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White House unveils AIDS strategy
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Critics say plan 'lacks vision'
December 17, 1996
Web posted at: 11:40 a.m. EST
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Clinton administration unveiled its first national strategy to combat AIDS Tuesday, but critics say the plan has few new ideas.
Clinton's AIDS policy director, Patricia Fleming, said the
plan, approved Monday by the White House Office of National
AIDS Policy, is a blueprint.
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"It starts out with six long-range goals that will carry us
through this administration." Fleming said. "And then it
talks about opportunities for progress in each of the six
areas."
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The six goals:
- To develop a cure for those living with HIV/AIDS and a vaccine to prevent further infections.
- To reduce and ultimately eliminate new HIV infections.
- To guarantee people living with HIV access to health care and other services.
- To combat AIDS-related discrimination.
- To support international efforts to fight AIDS.
- To ensure that scientific advances are quickly translated into improved care and prevention.
In an accompanying statement Clinton called the report "a historic document that articulates our national goals and establishes a blueprint for achieving them."
ACT UP, an AIDS advocacy group that provided a copy of the report to CNN prior to its approval, was critical of the plan. The group dismissed it as "a rehash ... of five-year-old recommendations by the now-defunct National Commission on AIDS."
Steve Michael, a spokesman for ACT UP, told Reuters the plan "lacks vision."
"We need a real national strategy, like what President Kennedy did with his campaign to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade (of the 1960s)."
The White House Office of National AIDS Policy, which drafted the report, did not adopt several ACT UP goals, including federal funding for needle exchanges, a large increase in research funds and the escalation of the AIDS policy director to a cabinet-level position.
Related stories:
- Study questions absolute safety of latex gloves - December 11, 1996
- CDC: Mother-to-child transmission of HIV declines - November 21, 1996
- Report: STD prevention overlooked - November 19, 1996
- White House stepping up AIDS visibility - December 6, 1995
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