Obama Administration Names Former Clinton Official Goosby to Global AIDS Coordinator Post

President Obama on Monday named Eric Goosby as the new global AIDS coordinator and administrator of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the New York Times reports (Macfarquhar, New York Times, 4/27). Goosby, whose nomination has to be confirmed by the Senate, currently serves as CEO and chief medical officer of Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation and as a professor of clinical medicine at the University of California-San Francisco (CQ HealthBeat, 4/27). During the Clinton administration, he served as deputy director of the White House National AIDS Policy Office and director of HHS' Office of HIV/AIDS Policy. According to White House officials, Goosby was a key player in developing and implementing national HIV/AIDS treatment programs in China, Rwanda, South Africa and Ukraine (White House release, 4/27).

Goosby in a statement said that PEPFAR "has already saved millions of lives in sub-Saharan Africa and other hard-hit areas around the world. But significant challenges relating to the prevention and treatment of HIV remain" (New York Times, 4/27). The Global AIDS Alliance said in a statement issued in anticipation of Goosby's nomination that he will be in the position to hold the Obama administration accountable for a pledge to double U.S. foreign aid from $25 billion to at least $50 billion by 2012. According to GAA, Obama's fiscal year 2010 budget request is "well below what is required to keep that promise." In addition, Goosby "has a unique opportunity to hold the Obama administration accountable for its campaign promises to increase funding for prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS overseas" (Reuters, 4/28). The Center for Global Health Policy and the HIV Medicine Association also released statements praising Goosby's nomination and calling for full funding for HIV/AIDS efforts in the budget (CQ HealthBeat, 4/27). According to the Times, some HIV/AIDS advocates hope there will be changes to PEPFAR guidelines regarding abstinence, fidelity, condom distribution and the inclusion of family planning programs (New York Times, 4/27).

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