WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As U.S. President Barack Obama closes out his official visit to Africa with a stop in Tanzania starting today, advocates from AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), expressed their disappointment that the President appears to be injecting politics into the realm of international AIDS relief. In remarks to reporters on Air Force One (reported on Politico.com) in response to his own efforts on AIDS, the President said, “Given the budget constraints, for us to try to get the kind of money that President Bush was able to get out of the Republican House for massively scaled new foreign aid program is very difficult.”
“President Obama’s remarks regarding cuts to global AIDS funding simply do not withstand scrutiny. We are disappointed that the President would try to play political football with such an important issue, as it is he who is abandoning America’s leadership on AIDS,” said Tom Myers, General Counsel and Chief of Public Affairs for AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “The fact is, in his FY 2013 Budget, President Obama cut over $210 million from global AIDS. He proposes an additional $50 million cut in FY 2014—making him the first US president to ever cut AIDS funding for programs like the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.”
Obama Administration’s Missed Opportunities on Global AIDS:
- During the past five years, President Obama could have asked Congress for up to $48 billion for international AIDS relief. He only asked for approximately $33 billion, and has not proposed any substantial new increase in funding.
- In fiscal year 2013, the administration proposed a cut of about $220 million to PEPFAR (the first time cuts were ever proposed). Reflecting the broad bipartisan support PEPFAR enjoys, Congress—including the Republican-led House—rejected that proposal and restored that funding.
- The administration’s fiscal year 2014 budget again proposes cuts to bilateral PEPFAR programs. Such cuts would have real world consequences of closure of facilities, and loss of treatment.
- The administration has not made any proposals to reauthorize PEPFAR, which is set to expire September 30, 2013.
“While there may be legitimate instances where the House of Representatives has acted in an obstructionist way for political ends, international AIDS relief is certainly not one of them,” said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “By blaming Republicans for his own shortcomings, President Obama has abandoned his leadership position and is politicizing AIDS. AHF calls on all parties to put aside partisan differences and political gamesmanship and reauthorize PEPFAR—and in the process of reauthorizing the legislation, prioritize funding for treatment, which is firmly established as the most effective way to keep people healthy and working, and, just as important, a practical way to also help eliminate new infections.”
PEPFAR is the successful US global AIDS program that President George W. Bush first proposed in his 2003 State of the Union address.
About AHF
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the largest non-profit HIV/AIDS healthcare provider in the USA. AHF currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 200,000 individuals in 28 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and Asia. Additional information is available at www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter & Instagram: @AIDSHealthcare