Bush's shell game: are the president's bold steps against the global AIDS pandemic glossing over his antigay attempts to fight the disease here at home? (Health).President Bush startled star·tle v. star·tled, star·tling, star·tles v.tr. 1. To cause to make a quick involuntary movement or start. 2. To alarm, frighten, or surprise suddenly. See Synonyms at frighten. the nation in January when he announced during his State of the Union address “State of the Union” redirects here. For other uses, see State of the Union (disambiguation). The State of the Union is an annual address in which the President of the United States reports on the status of the country, normally to a joint session of Congress (the that he would triple spending to fight the global AIDS epidemic to $15 billion over the next five years. "We have a chance to achieve a more compassionate world for every citizen," the president declared. "America believes deeply that every body has worth, everybody matters, everybody was created by the Almighty, and we're going to act on that belief, and we'll act on that passion." The Administration's initiative, which must be approved by Congress, was the culmination of a shift in focus toward the international dimensions of the pandemic pandemic /pan·dem·ic/ (pan-dem´ik) 1. a widespread epidemic of a disease. 2. widely epidemic. pan·dem·ic adj. Epidemic over a wide geographic area. n. , in which a staggering 50 million people already are estimated to be infected with HIV HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), either of two closely related retroviruses that invade T-helper lymphocytes and are responsible for AIDS. There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is responsible for the vast majority of AIDS in the United States. . Advocates for people with AIDS The People With AIDS (PWA) Self-Empowerment Movement was a movement of those diagnosed with AIDS and grew out of San Francisco. The PWA Self-Empowerment Movement believes that those diagnosed as having AIDS should "take charge of their own life, illness, and care, and to minimize , unaccustomed to a Republican president's commitment to combating a virus spread primarily through sexual contact, welcomed the initiative. But many expressed concern that the White House was sending a double message about the pandemic. Jerry Thacker, the president's most recent appointment to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) was a commission formed by then-President Bill Clinton in 1995 to provide recommendations on the U.S. government's response to the AIDS epidemic. President George W. Bush and Secretary Tommy G. , withdrew January 23 after media outlets reported that he'd called homosexuality a "deathstyle" and described AIDS as a "gay plague," even though gay men make up a tiny fraction of the total number of worldwide HIV infections. The president's AIDS budget is also far less generous on the domestic front, where the Ryan White Ryan Wayne White (December 6, 1971 – April 8, 1990[1]) was a young man with AIDS from Kokomo, Indiana who became a national spokesman for AIDS, after being expelled from school because of his infection. act is flat-funded. The budget also calls for $4 million less in HIV-prevention spending than he requested last year. "It's great to see the president committing to Africa, which has too long been ignored by the United States," says Darlene Weide, executive director of San Francisco's Stop AIDS Project. "On the other hand, we are concerned that HIV prevention efforts domestically are being influenced by political interests in the Republican Party that favor faith-based, antigay, abstinence-only education programs. We'll see how this philosophy develops internationally, but we're concerned about the way science is being ignored."--C.B. |
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