PEPFAR supporters push for Senate vote

By Jen Colletta
PGN Staff Writer
© 2008 Philadelphia Gay News

Senate leaders locked in a debate since April over a $50-billion global plan to fight AIDS reached a tentative agreement last week.

The bill would reauthorize the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in Africa, a five-year plan that would more than triple the current amount of funding going to combat AIDS worldwide.

Several Republican senators, led by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), however, stalled the bill three months ago because it, unlike the previous PEPFAR, did not specify how much funding would be directed to treatment programs.

The 2003 PEPFAR stipulated that 55 percent of the funding should be spent on HIV/AIDS treatment. Supporters of the new bill argued that those working directly in areas hardest hit by HIV/AIDS should decide how much their respective regions should spend on treatment, but Coburn and some of his colleagues cautioned that, without monetary guidelines, beneficiaries had too much discretion on how to use the funds.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who, along with Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), negotiated with the Republican senators, said the legislators had come to an “agreement in principle:” PEPFAR now includes language that dictates “more than half” of the funding is to be used for treatment purposes.

Kaytee Riek, a local ACT UP member, said that Reid has communicated that he is eager for a vote on the bill as soon as possible.

A delegation from ACT UP Philadelphia headed to Washington, D.C., June 26 to demand that the Senate pass the bill.

About 150 ACT UP members joined with an additional 150 members of the American Medical Student Association, African Services Committee and Africa Action for a rally at Stanton Park and a march to Capitol Hill. The rally was intended to express the activists’ gratitude to senators who’ve supported the bill while still urging them not to cave to pressure from legislators who oppose PEPFAR and compromise the merits of the legislation.

Jose DeMarco, a member of ACT UP Philadelphia, said the demonstration, beyond recognizing PEPFAR supporters, would show opponents that global HIV/AIDS communities need their support.

“During the largest health crisis in history, the House and Senate crafted a bipartisan compromise that would continue the U.S. global AIDS program. We are grateful to these superheroes for their valiant effort,” DeMarco said. “However, we want to make sure that the rest of the Senate joins them and does the right thing by working to pass the PEPFAR bill now.”

Jen Colletta can be reached at jen@epgn.com.