Bipartisan Group of Senators Ask USAID Administrator to Detail Plan to Increase Global Access to AIDS Treatment
Call Failure to Provide Access to AIDS Drugs in Developing Countries “Immoral”

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), along with 8 of her Senate colleagues, today expressed “deep concern” about recent comments by Andrew Natsios, Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, on the international AIDS crisis and asked him to detail his plans to increase global access to AIDS drugs.

In a letter to Administrator Natsios, the Senators wrote: “Our understanding is that you believe that the [Global AIDS and Health] Fund should focus almost exclusively on funding for prevention, with little, if any, money for treatment to help those currently living with HIV/AIDS.

While we also believe that preventing the further spread of HIV/AIDS should be one of the top priorities for the Fund -- as well as for U.S. bilateral efforts to address the global HIV/AIDS pandemic -- we strongly believe that the Global AIDS and Health Fund should also place a significant emphasis on the purchase of HIV/AIDS drugs, such as antiretrovirals, when appropriate, as well as assisting resource-poor countries in the development of health care infrastructure.

We have a responsibility not only to assist developing countries in halting the further spread of HIV/AIDS, but also to expand access to treatment for those already living with the disease. Over 17 million have already died of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. Over 25 million are currently infected with HIV or living with AIDS in this same region. Without access to treatment, millions more will die.”

In a recent interview with the Boston Globe, Natsios stated that the lack of roads, doctors, health clinics, and other infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa means that introducing a regimen of antiretroviral drugs would be extraordinarily difficult.

Although the Senators agree that it is important to make sure that assistance can be effectively delivered and implemented, they believe that many of Natsios’ concerns are unfounded: “It is our understanding that protocols for delivery of AIDS drugs in resource-poor settings are being successfully developed and implemented, including protocols in rural Haiti in which patients take medication twice a day and in several ongoing AIDS drug trials in which African physicians are successfully distributing pills twice a day (in the morning and at night). Botswana is on the verge of providing free AIDS drugs to all in need. Moreover, in the United States, some new drug regimens have been simplified to a single pill containing three anti-HIV drugs.

And while infrastructure is an issue for many countries, there are also a large number of people dying daily in hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa under the care of trained medical professionals simply because they do not have access to medications. To deny these people access when it is a question of the availability of medicine - not infrastructure - is, simply put, immoral.”

To date, HIV has infected over 36 million people worldwide, with over 95 percent of those infected living outside of the United States. It is estimated that 21.8 million people have died due to HIV/AIDS worldwide. In 2000, it is estimated that 5.3 million people were newly infected with HIV, and 3 million people died due to HIV/AIDS.

The Senators continued: “Rather than deny developing countries access to antiretroviral drugs, we would suggest that U.S. assistance, both bilaterally and through the Global AIDS and Health Fund, should be effectively targeted to assist resource-poor countries in developing the necessary public health infrastructure and appropriate protocols to address HIV/AIDS.

In short, although we also believe that emphasis must be placed on prevention, we believe that your remarks suggested a disproportionate balance in priorities.”

The letter to Administrator Natsios was co-signed by Senators Gordon Smith (R-OR), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Russell Feingold (D-WI), and Jack Reed (D-RI). A copy of the Senators’ letter is available upon request.