December 12, 2007

Experts Criticize PEPFAR's Abstinence Funding

While Congress is currently renewing a proposed $30 billion five-year extension of George W. Bush’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, global health specialists expressed concern at a December 11 Senate committee meeting regarding the percentage of those funds that will be used for abstinence-only HIV/AIDS programming (boston.com, 12/12).

For the past five years, PEPFAR had required that a third of its total HIV prevention budget be spent on promoting abstinence. The Boston Globe reports that Richard G. Lugar, an Indiana Republican, suggested before the Senate yesterday that 50 percent of the budget be spent on programs supporting abstinence and monogamy. Mark Dybul, the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, said that he “strongly favored” this strategy.

According to the Globe, critics such as Dr. Helen L. Smits from the Institute of Medicine argue that the leaders of beneficiary countries should decide how prevention funding will be spent on developing culturally specific programs. “If a country discovers it has a big [problem] with needle sharing,” she says, “they could devote all their money in one year to stamp it out.”

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Previous Comments:

Rayford Kytle, Washington, DC, 2007-12-17 15:04:44
If the President is serious about promoting abstinence and faithful monogamy he should launch a public health campaign to reduce homophobia and promote equal rights for domestic partnerships of gay and lesbian people. If gay kids and committed gay relatiohships were treated with respect by society then maybe some of them would choose to remain abstinent until they met someone they wanted to be monogamous with.

Jeanne Cahill, Rome, 2007-12-17 12:50:42
The data show that abstinence does not work for the majority of young people so why does the government cut programs that do work in favor of ideology that fails to keep sexually active young people safe. Failure to educate about safe sex practices most likely helps explain the increasing rate of infection among heterosexual females. Congress and the administration must be held accountable for their actions that put millions at risk and do little to address the real problems. Jeanne Cahill

Dave Martin, Austin, TX, 2007-12-13 12:42:47
This is shameful. There's an episode of "Designing Women" from 1987 (that's eighty-seven) where it was pointed out that abstinence programs were known to be ineffectual. The episode is "Killing All the Right People" and had an AIDS storyline.

JP Schuiteman, San Diego, 2007-12-13 12:03:04
Boy those crazy Republicans sure can be a bunch of knuckleheads. Makes me wonder if I live in parallel universe or something...

Chelsea Gulden, Charlotte NC, 2007-12-13 12:01:15
We wonder why rates among women and youth are rising so rapidly. These populations ARE engaging in sexual behavior but have no knowledge of how to keep themselves safe. Furhtermore the education they do receive from these programs can not only misinform but also can isolate those perinatally infected youth as well as LGBTQ. It is proven that a comprehensive abst based cirricula actually prolongs the initial sexual contact. Abst programs are a waste of what little gov't resources we do recieve!

Julie Eberly, Houston, 2007-12-13 11:57:25
Please urge your state representatives to support legislature that lifts this arbitrary abstinence earmark! Only then can the dollars be used effectively and efficiently!

tim, , 2007-12-13 11:00:58
Again and again these people do not get it. I do outreach at hte local high schools here and a few other places where it is VERY evident that abstinence is not working for everyone. Sure there are some that choose it but a bigger group DOES NOT! When will the these people learn to listen to common sense. I feel abstinence is the better choice but I also fully believe that these hogh schoolers as well as others also NEED to know how to protect themselves as well as others.

Thomas B. Bowie Jr., Rossie/Hammond NY, 2007-12-13 09:31:16
Please America, over the past 7 years the Bush Administration has drastically changed the way HIV/AIDS Education, Treatment and Research is funded. Gone are all the programs that were cutting edge and have helped the world face HIV/AIDS. In its place have been programs designed around a religious belief in abstenence. A nice idea but not practical. To bad all the intelligence reports the tax payers have paid for aren't made public. The truth about HIV/AIDS isn't loyal to President Bush.