Fighting HIV/AIDS

First, a careful read of the first paragraph of the Harvard School of Public Health Study press release reveals that abstinence is also having limited impact in heterosexual HIV transmission in Africa. Second, I don't know why the Senator feels it useful to compare five years of PEPFAR funding to one year of another program as if that gives perspective to anything more than math. To put these numbers truly in perspective, let's suppose the federal budget is $100. Giving President Bush all he wants for PEPFAR is 30 cents of this $100. Although the Idol Gives Back is laudable especially for raising awareness, it would show up here as less than the cash value of a coupon. If spending were prioritized to do it, we could end extreme poverty worldwide for $1. I completely agree with the Senator's pronouncement that when considering PEPFAR we must think hard about our priorities. Through our elected representatives, we choose to make this 30 cents the first thing we fund, or the thing we put somewhere on the to-do list. The question guiding us is: If millions would die, would we give them more than a coupon?