December 10, 2007

U.S. Foreign Aid Agency Flunks HIV Test

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)—set up nearly four years ago by the federal government to create new foreign aid strategies in fighting HIV/AIDS—has yielded disappointing results, The New York Times reports (nytimes.com, 12/7).

According to the Times, the agency has spent only $155 million out of the $4.8 billion approved for projects to assist impoverished countries in providing health care, in addition to programs fighting epidemics such as AIDS and malaria.

Due to its poor performance, the House and the Senate have drastically cut the Bush administration’s 2008 budget for the agency. In addition, the newspaper notes, the Senate has proposed that Congress pay only half the price of new five-year projects upfront. Currently, such projects are fully funded from the beginning.

Critics say the MCC has failed to follow through with projects past the planning stages in developing countries, such as AIDS-ravaged Burkina Faso.

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Vic Russell, San Jose, 2007-12-11 13:24:43
Why should this be of any intrest, under Bush the US numbers are under reported between %33 and %50; have been for itleastmthe last four years... "We" don't assist US citizins with anything better then below poverty level funding. And it's being cut yearly based on the bogus numbers of "reported cases." IF we can't fix it at home, how can we fix it anywhere?

francis, NYC, 2007-12-11 12:40:57
seems par for the course of Bush's head in the sand policy's