Congress To Vote On Abstinence And Foreign Aid Levels

Today the full House is
expected to vote on the FY 2008 Foreign Aid bill, and close votes are
expected on several amendments directly relevant to HIV/AIDS as well as the
fight against drug-resistant tuberculosis.


The bill would require the Administration, for 2008, to employ
evidence- based approaches to HIV prevention. It would give it the option
of waiving the requirement that at least one-third of HIV prevention
funding go towards abstinence-until-marriage and fidelity programs.



Secondly, a provision of the bill would allow family planning
organizations to receive US donations of contraceptives and condoms. The
provision would not allow programs to receive direct US financial support
for the purchase of these products.



The White House has issued a statement critical of these provisions,
and both will be challenged by amendments, brought by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA)
and Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), respectively.



"We strongly back both of these provisions related to HIV prevention
and access to contraceptives, and we urge the House to reject the Pitts and
Smith amendments," said Dr. Paul Zeitz, Executive Director of the Global
AIDS Alliance. "There are about 13,000 new HIV infections each day, and we
must ensure our prevention strategies are effective. In addition, family
planning programs must have the products they need."



Twenty-one organizations, including the Episcopal Church, the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Methodist Church, and
Global Action for Children, signed a letter urging the House to reject the
Pitts and Smith Amendments.



Reviews by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Institute
of Medicine (IOM) have shown that the requirement harms the overall AIDS
effort.


Global AIDS Alliance

globalaidsalliance