Posted on 07/02/2003 10:38:28 AM PDT by ejdrapes
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On the eve of a trip to Africa where AIDS (news - web sites) tops the agenda, President Bush (news - web sites) on Wednesday named a former drug company executive to head a $15 billion U.S. program to combat the disease worldwide. His appointment of Randall Tobias, the retired chairman and chief executive officer of the Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co., drew immediate criticism from AIDS activists who said his connections to the pharmaceutical industry would raise conflict-of-interest issues. "Randy Tobias has a mandate directly from me to get our AIDS initiative up and running as soon as possible," Bush told reporters at the White House. "We will set up a broad and efficient network to deliver drugs to the farthest reaches of Africa, even by motorcycle or bicycle." Bush leaves on a five-day visit to Senegal, South Africa, Nigeria, Botswana and Uganda on Monday. The trip will focus on security and regional conflicts, economic development, promotion of democracy and the fight against AIDS. Tobias, a substantial donor to the Republican Party and Bush's political campaigns, will have the rank of ambassador, making his job subject to Senate confirmation. Critics predicted he would face some opposition. According to the United Nations (news - web sites) UNAIDS (news - web sites) agency, 42 million people are infected with HIV (news - web sites) worldwide -- 29.4 million of them in Africa. Tobias, appearing in the Roosevelt Room with Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) and other U.S. officials, called AIDS statistics in Africa "nearly incomprehensible." "AIDS has already killed almost 20 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, where it is the number one cause of death," Tobias said. "And, without intervention, it will claim the lives of one quarter of the population in the next decade." Salih Booker, executive director of the Africa Action advocacy group, said Tobias' appointment showed that Bush's AIDS policy really lay "with the big drug companies." He criticized the administration for its trade policy blocking African access to lower cost generic AIDS drugs, and for failing to fully fund the $3 billion first-year installment of Bush's AIDS initiative. In May, Bush signed into law a $15 billion plan to help combat the disease in Africa and the Caribbean, tripling U.S. spending over five years. The new law, a surprise priority in the president's State of the Union address, means anti-viral treatment will be available to about 2 million HIV-infected people in Africa and the Caribbean who cannot afford the costly cocktail of drugs that can prolong and improve their lives. It also provides hospice care for the dying, helps some of the 13 million children who have lost one or both parents and intensifies prevention programs through strategies like sexual abstinence education and promotion of condom use. The White House said the plan had the potential to prevent 7 million new HIV infections within a decade. The AIDS initiative focuses principally on Botswana, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, as well as Guyana and Haiti in the Caribbean. Bush Taps Former Lilly Executive to Run AIDS Plan
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