The U.S. Senate majority leader, Democrat Harry Reid of Nevada, has set a June 24 deadline for reauthorization of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which has provided antiretroviral treatment to some 1.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the developing world, the Associated Press reports (ap.google.com, 6/19).
According to the article, the PEPFAR reauthorization bill—which would triple funding for HIV treatment and prevention to $50 billion over the next five years—has faced conservative opposition since the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved it in March. Opponents say the bill supports prevention programs such as family planning, male circumcision and condom distribution.
However, both presumed presidential nominees, Senators Barack Obama (D) and John McCain (R), are cosponsoring the bill.
“Today an estimated 40 million people around the world are living with HIV/AIDS, with over 4 million new infections in 2006 alone,” Obama said recently. “I urge my colleagues to bring this important bill to the Senate floor for a vote as soon as possible.”
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Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
Woman of the Month is supported by exclusive advertising from Gilead.
Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
