Newspapers Respond to Bush’s Request for $30B, Five-Year Extension of PEPFAR
Several newspapers have published editorials in response to President Bush's recent request for a $30 billion, five-year extension of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Summaries appear below.
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Cincinnati Enquirer: Although reactions to Bush's request for increasing PEPFAR funding have been "decidedly mixed," the request is a "welcome ste[p]" for African nations and for international stability, an Enquirer editorial says. According to the Enquirer, "we all have a stake in improving the health and well-being of people in African nations," and Bush's request "will force Africa to the top of the agenda" at the Group of Eight industrialized nations summit this week (Cincinnati Enquirer, 6/4).
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San Francisco Chronicle: The White House's "steady support" for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs "deserves praise," a Chronicle editorial says. Although Bush's request for additional PEPFAR funding "won't defeat" HIV/AIDS, it "should oblige Congress and the next president" to continue funding PEPFAR programs and "forces" other wealthy nations "to back up past pledges" to fund HIV/AIDS programs, according to the Chronicle (San Francisco Chronicle, 6/4).
- Washington Post: "Those who questioned President Bush's commitment to fight" HIV/AIDS "should be doubters no more," according to a Post editorial. The Post says the PEPFAR funding request "should get Congress' swift approval," adding that Bush "is right to push undauntedly to do what the United States can in the fight against AIDS" (Washington Post, 6/3).
