9.11.08

Sorry folks, this ones a bit political but just wanted to share a couple thoughts on our "War on Terror" this September 11th.

Now this may come to a shock, but i am not a fan of George Bush. In fact, I would say that he is the worst president we have ever had with regards to long term consequences of his policies; except he has done one thing right. PEPFAR. The Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Now this plan, which basically provided $15 billion over a 5 year period (and was just reauthorized) for the treatment of HIV, certainly has its faults:

(Not cost effective as countries are must purchase expensive drugs from U.S. companies rather than generic brands, small % is spend on HIV prevention-and uses the largely ineffective abstinence-only programing, and my personal favorite, every organization using PEPFAR funds has to sign a waiver that they do not promote or support sex work (which creates a barrier for edcuation in many high-risk sex worker communities). Anyway, wouldn't you know it, but who had to step down when his name was leaked for using a prostitute himself? PEPFAR overseer, Randall Tobias.)

As a Public Health Student I had been somewhat biased against PEPFAR due to afore mentioned problems, but after talking to several Africans, it is clear that the benefits of this program extend far beyond our humanitarian obligation to help people. In a time where much of the world dislikes America, namely for invading Iraq, the Africans I have met actually like Bush (granted they like Obama more! an obama t-shirt over here will sell for $40). PEPFAR has provided thousands of much needed jobs in Africa, hope, and realization that someone cares....The question of sustainability is a factor, but for the moment, in a poor nation that could easily blame the west for their state of poverty and use that as leverage to build anti-western groups, they are not. they are wearing american flag t-shirts, debating american politics, and whether i like it or not, arguing about the benefits of "w".

Seeing first hand what a little investment can do has made me question our foreign policies. Why are we spending $12 billion a month fighting an ever growing group of terrorists when we could be spending a tenth of that, investing in education and health care in these countries, and fighting the root of the problem of terrorism (namely poverty, lack of education) rather than contributing to the problem. Basically, we are spending over a five year period on PEPFAR, what a month in Iraq costs us. Does this seem wrong to anyone else?