Global Health Policy
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September 19, 2006
Can 15 Billion Dollars for HIV/AIDS Go Unnoticed?
Posted by Nandini Oomman at 02:28 PM
Sadly it appears so. Almost 4 in 10 Americans don’t know about U.S. global spending for HIV/AIDS! The Kaiser Family Foundation updated its Public Opinion Spotlights on HIV/AIDS, among other topics. The spotlight on the public's knowledge of the current administration's efforts shows that:
“Very few Americans - just 3% - are aware that the Bush Administration has more than doubled funding to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic in developing countries. Many more Americans thought that U.S. spending on the global HIV/AIDS crisis has stayed about the same (23%) or decreased (22%) under the Bush Administration. Nearly four in ten (37%) said they didn’t know whether funding has increased or decreased over the past four years.”
Is this going to be a lost opportunity for the current administration and for the future of U.S. spending on global HIV/AIDS programs? It certainly would help if the American Public knew more about PEPFAR--not just the bad, but the good, too! Who is going to do that job? CGD's HIV/AIDS Monitor will tell part of the story about spending big money for HIV/AIDS, but much rests on PEPFAR and other donors to reveal how they do business with other countries for HIV/AIDS and what results--successes and failures--are achieved through these investments.
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Comments
The public's lack of knowledge about US global AIDS programs can partly be explained by the more general lack of knowledge among the American people about government spending. Another factor, though, is the President's relative silence on the issue. When was the last time he talked about PEPFAR publicly? I can't remember.
Interestingly, the Washington Post reported today that Laura Bush is quickly becoming the administration's public face for social causes like HIV/AIDS. A PR campaign via the First Lady won't cut it. The President is the only one who can get the message out to a wide audience.
Another key take-away from the Kaiser poll is for HIV/AIDS advocates - low public awareness of PEPFAR will signal to Congress that there is not broad public support for the initiative. And if advocates and activists continue to publicly lament PEPFAR's weaknesses without also highlighting its strengths, Congress could simply decide to abandon the program altogether.
Posted by: Michael Bernstein at September 20, 2006 03:07 PM
My guess: part of PEPFAR's failure to become better known derives from the unfortunte name, President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief. Besides requring people to learn a new acronym (never a good idea), the name may contain the seeds of its own destruction.
First problem: Emergencies don't last forever, but the need for ARVs will continue for many, many years. People may reasonably ask: just how long is this emergency?
Second problem: The decision to tie the program so closely to President Bush himself--and hence perhaps to his political fortunes. Will future administrations--or a Congress controlled by the Democrats--want to continue spending billions of dollars on something so closely associated with President Bush? Might something like U.S. AIDS Relief Fund been easier to explain abroad? After all, there are lots of presidents out there.
If PEPFAR is to survive the 2008 election, it must become better known and demonstrate its value. Then perhaps a future administration--and Congress, and ultimately the voters--will be willing to continue to support it. If they do, I bet they will change the name.
Posted by: Lawrence MacDonald at September 25, 2006 11:15 PM