AIDS Activist: I Miss Dubya

Criticism over the HIV/AIDS polices of the Obama administration is growing, with activist Gregg Gonsalves even lamenting that he misses George W. Bush.

AIDS advocates complained bitterly that they had been betrayed and that the Bush administration’s best legacy was being gutted — and they blame a doctor and budget adviser who is also the brother of the White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. “I’m holding my nose as I say this, but I miss George W. Bush,” said Gregg Gonsalves a long-time AIDS campaigner. “On AIDS, he really stepped up. He did a tremendous thing. Now, to have this happen under Obama is really depressing.” But Dr. Eric Goosby, the new global AIDS coordinator and chief of Pepfar, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, denied that the administration’s dedication to fighting AIDS had shrunk, noting that more people would still be put on treatment each year. “We’re honoring our commitment, we’re increasing our commitment, we will not veer from that commitment,” Dr. Goosby said.

Recent evidence that the AIDS pandemic peaked sometime in the mid-90s has renewed calls to redirect government funds to other diseases.