NYTimes profile: Clinton’s two act response to HIV
From the KaiserNetwork:
Missed Opportunity
Although Clinton has “come a long way on global AIDS,” some people say his early efforts to combat HIV/AIDS “did not match the epic scale of the human tragedy as it unfolded across Africa and millions died and were orphaned,” the Times reports. According to the Times, Clinton remains “adamant” that he had accomplished as much as possible for HIV/AIDS globally with a Congress that was “hostile to foreign aid.” However, Clinton does believe he was “wrong” to focus so much of his HIV/AIDS work during his presidency on protecting patent rights for drug companies. “The debate over whether Clinton missed a political opportunity to lead the charge on global AIDS years before Mr. [George W.] Bush seized it is far from over,” according to the Times. Greg Behrman, the author of “The Invisible People: How the U.S. Has Slept Through the Global AIDS Pandemic, the Greatest Human Catastrophe of Our Time,” said, “There are two acts here. Clinton’s post-presidential leadership has been extraordinary. As president, though, the record is clear. Clinton was not a leader on global AIDS and the consequences have been devastating.”
Clinton’s Work on Lowering Generic Antiretroviral Prices
Clinton has been credited with negotiating lower prices for generic antiretrovirals through agreements with pharmaceutical companies that cover more than 400,000 HIV-positive people in dozens of countries in part because Clinton’s “name opened doors with generic drug makers,” the Times reports. For example, in 2003, Clinton negotiated lower prices with Indian drug maker Cipla to cut by half to $140 per person annually the cost of its most common antiretroviral. Clinton’s HIV/AIDS advocacy also has extended to focus on HIV-positive children, according to the Times. His foundation has generated $4.4 million to purchase medicines for 13,000 HIV-positive children, train health workers, modernize pediatric wards and fund lab tests (Dugger, New York Times, 8/29).
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