United States Has Strong Commitment to Fighting Global AIDS, Tobias Says

Accusing President Bush of failing in his commitment to fight the global HIV/AIDS pandemic "disregards unprecedented progress against this disease" and is a "disservice to United States personnel and our dedicated partners giving their all on the front lines around the world," U.S. Ambassador Randall Tobias, head of the State Department's Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, writes in a New York Times letter to the editor in response to a Feb. 25 Times editorial (Tobias, New York Times, 3/4). The Times editorial said, "Tax cuts and the war in Iraq have led Mr. Bush to renege on commitments even to his most widely trumpeted programs, like his AIDS initiative and the Millennium Challenge program" (New York Times, 2/25). However, the five-year, $15 billion President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief provides needed treatment and ensures sustainability by working with other groups to "implement each host nation's vision for fighting AIDS," Tobias says, adding that U.S. funding for HIV/AIDS -- which is "more than twice that of all other donor governments combined" -- is "producing results" (New York Times, 3/4).

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