George W. Bush Forewarns Trump For Cutting AIDS Funding

12 abril 2017

For all of George W. Bush’s many faults, we must honor the former president for at least one thing: The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program providing lifesaving funding for HIV prevention, treatment and care in Africa and the Caribbean.

Launched in 2003, it’s brought antiviral meds to millions of patients and supported more than a million babies be born HIV-negative to mothers who are positive.

But the Trump Administration’s new budget calls for $300 million in cuts to PEPFAR’s $1.1 billion budget, which would then be redirected into military spending and Homeland Security.

In an op-ed in The Washington Post, Bush advised against such deep cuts as we are “on the verge of an AIDS-free generation.” He also suggests there is some self-interest in supporting PEPFAR:

"This lifesaving work also has a practical purpose for Americans. Societies mired in disease breed hopelessness and despair, leaving people ripe for recruitment by extremists. When we confront suffering — when we save lives — we breathe hope into devastated populations, strengthen and stabilize society, and make our country and the world safer."