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Bill Clinton Stumping Against AIDS
John Stith
Staff Writer
2005-05-27
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
Former President Bill Clinton spent time in India this week addressing the worldwide pandemic known as HIV/AIDS. Clinton challenged U.S. policy flexibility on AIDS funding and urged India to loosen it's new patent laws in order to make sure poorer countries continue to be able to received the low cost drugs needed to fight this horrible tragedy.
Clinton announced his foundation would train 150,000 doctors to treat AIDS. India has the second highest AIDS infected population behind South Africa with over 5.13 million victims.
Clinton discussed the fact that U.S. drug companies have corralled policy makers on their choices for spending funds for drugs to assist the poorer countries overridden with the blight on their immune systems. Right now, the drug makers force the U.S. only to buy premium drugs at premium prices. They won't allow the conversion of these drugs into generics. These policies hold the continent of Africa hostage and much of the rest of the world because while the U.S. supplies more money than any other nation, they have that spending issue with the drug companies.
Clinton made AIDS his cause after he left the White House. His Clinton Foundation helps sponsor a number of initiatives mostly centered on helping AIDS victims. They've helped a number of poorer countries develop treatments and purchasing drugs from Africa and Brazil, primary producers of less expensive drugs to fight the HIV/AIDS disease.
During a two-day visit to New Delhi focusing on India's response to the AIDS epidemic, President Clinton launched the training program before an audience of private sector physicians. "The Government of India is moving aggressively to address the AIDS problem in a systematic and comprehensive manner," President Clinton said. "In India, where an estimated 80% of health care services are provided by private sector hospitals and private physicians, it is imperative that they are given the tools needed to provide standardized high quality care and treatment to those who need it. I salute the Government for its leadership and look forward to our continued partnership as we expand our efforts to combat HIV/AIDS."
Speaking in New Delhi, Dr. S.Y. Quraishi, Additional Secretary and Director General of NACO, said: "With a number of new initiatives and interventions now we are in a position to halt and reduce the spread of the virus. Our experience with bilateral and multilateral cooperation has been quite encouraging. We are particularly impressed with the support and initiatives of the Clinton Foundation in areas of capacity building and their receptivity, flexibility, and sensitivity to deal with the HIV/AIDS issues in India."
About the Author:
John is a staff writer for SecurityProNews covering cyber security.
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