Gain in Africa’s AIDS Fight

The Bush administration’s decision to stop requiring its foreign personnel to take HIV tests is important and will encourage other governments to end the stigmatization of AIDS, a major problem in Africa, where Secretary of State Colin L. Powell just ended a four-nation swing. But President Bush must not stop there.

The U.S. decision is a victory for Powell, who realizes that most Africans who avoid HIV testing do so because they fear losing their jobs if their employers find out they have tested positive for the deadly virus. Many Africans feel they have everything to lose and nothing to gain from HIV testing. Indeed, as few as 10,000 of the 4 million Africans with advanced HIV and AIDS can afford antiretroviral therapy. The rest are dying. Sub-Saharan Africa buries 5,500 AIDS victims every day.

Powell has said that his Africa trip gave him a “true appreciation” of how profoundly AIDS has been devastating the region. One leader after another told him the devastation would continue unless wealthier nations pitch in with more money to fight the plague.

Just before Powell’s trip to Africa, Bush announced that his administration would spend $200 million in “seed money” for a global fund to combat AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. But Bush hasn’t said from which funding pot that money will come--and there’s a chance it could come at the expense of other worthy African aid programs.

That’s why Powell needs to press Bush to support the efforts of Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), who is intent on making sure that the United States allocates new money--$200 million next year and $500 million in the following year--to combat the three deadly diseases.

This is far more critical than the administration’s move away from HIV test requirements for foreign employees. Still, the administration should be applauded for this change, which will have an impact. In hailing the announcement, Dr. Helene Gayle, AIDS chief at the federal Centers for Disease Control, cited an African proverb: “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago; the second best time is now.”