CQ’s Schuler Discusses Bush FY 2005 Budget Proposal, Including AIDS Funding
Congressional Quarterly's Kate Schuler in this week's "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork.org and CQ" discusses President Bush's fiscal year 2005 budget proposal released last week, including an increase in funding for international and domestic HIV/AIDS programs, which some critics say is "still not enough." The proposal includes $2.7 billion for international AIDS programs, which is an increase from FY 2004 spending but does not match the $3 billion authorized by Congress. According to Schuler, critics have said that the initiative is "moving too slowly," but Randall Tobias, head of the State Department's Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, said that the administration is "laying a foundation" for the program. Randall added that the full pledge of $15 billion over five years for the global AIDS initiative will be met. According to Schuler, Bush expects that by 2008 the initiative will have "prevented millions of new infections and treated and cared for millions" of HIV-positive people (Schuler, "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork.org and CQ," 2/9).The report is available online. This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.