Topics in the News: HIV-AIDS
Gary Johnson on Civil Rights
: Jun 15, 2011
Prostitution is safer when legal and regulated
Q: You have unorthodox takes, for a member of the GOP, on prostitution. A: Prostitution? I have no intention of enlisting the services of a prostitute. But if I were, where would I want to do that? Well, I'd want to do that I think in
Nevada where it's legal and regulated. I think I would be safer in enlisting those services. I would have the least chance of contracting HIV or Hepatitis C or any communicable disease in Nevada.
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Source: Tim Dickinson in Rolling Stone Magazine
Barack Obama on Civil Rights
: Jan 11, 2010
2008 speech on race expedited by Rev. Wright fiasco
On March 13, ABC News aired a story about his pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, using [controversial] excerpts from videotapes of Wright's sermons that were for sale at his parish, Trinity United Church of Christ. Obama's initial attraction to the parson
sprang from its commitment to the social gospel: day care programs; encouragement of HIV testing--all appealed to a young community organizer. He had lifted the title of "The Audacity of Hope" from one of Wright's sermons. And although Obama considered
the words that were causing the current controversy beyond the pale, he well understood the context--generational, cultural, and social--by which Wright had come to the views that animated them.The idea of doing a big race speech had been on Obama's
mind for months. Convinced that he would be the nominee, Obama wanted to start dealing with issues he was destined to confront in the general election, of which race was plainly one. The Wright fiasco has simply sped up the timetable on the speech.
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Source: Game Change, by Heilemann & Halpern, p.234-237
Barack Obama on Health Care
: Jan 11, 2010
Advocated condom use to avoid AIDS at Saddleback Church
In Dec. 2006 Obama took part in an event at the Saddleback megachurch. It was World AIDS Day, and Obama appeared alongside Sen. Sam Brownback (R, KS). Brownback remarked, "Welcome to my house," prompting peals from the crowd. When Obama's turn came, he
remarked, "There is one thing I've gotta say: This is my house, too. This is God's house." He quoted Corinthians and advocated the use of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV. The huge crowd of conservative Evangelists awarded him a standing ovation.
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Source: Game Change, by Heilemann & Halpern, p. 69
Barack Obama on Health Care
: Aug 1, 2008
CDC estimate: a half million would follow Obama's AIDS test
In a staged public event at the Kenya Medical Research Institute in Kisian, Obama and his wife took an AIDS test, to demonstrate to the local people in a public forum that the test was safe. At the door of a mobile AIDS testing facility provided by the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Obama was photographed with a microphone, speaking to the assembled crowd. The primary message of the AIDS event was a universal message, namely, that AIDS testing is safe: "One of the reasons we are here today is becaus
HIV/AIDS has ravaged the community," Obama told the assembled crowd. "Too many people, too many children have gotten sick. So one of the things we're going to do here in front of this van today is that my wife and I are going to get tested for
HIV/AIDS, because if you know your status, you can prevent illness." The Centers for Disease Control suggested to Obama that as many as a half-million Kenyans would take the HIV/AIDS test after they saw him and his wife safely do it themselves.
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Source: Obama Nation, by Jerome Corsi, p. 95
Barack Obama on Health Care
: Apr 13, 2008
Use whatever works with AIDS, including teaching abstinence
Q: The ministry called True Love Waits, has been credited with lowering the AIDS infection rate in Uganda dramatically from 30% to 6%. It is an abstinence-based program--what is your opinion?A: When Michelle and I were traveling in Kenya, we took an
AIDS test. I compliment George Bush on the PEPFAR program [President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief]. My view is that we should use whatever the best approaches are, the scientifically sound approaches are, to reduce this devastating disease. Part of
that should be a strong education component and I think abstinence education is important. I also think that contraception is important; I also think that treatment is important; I also think that we have to do more to make antiviral drugs available to
people who are in extreme poverty. So I don’t want to pluck out one facet of it. Now, that doesn’t mean that non-for-profit groups can’t focus on one thing while the government focuses on other things. I think we want to have a comprehensive approach.
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Source: 2008 Democratic Compassion Forum at Messiah College
Hillary Clinton on Health Care
: Apr 13, 2008
Decrease generic drug costs for developing countries
Q: Current US trade policies toward developing countries make it sometimes extremely difficult for poor people to access inexpensive, generic drugs for the treatment of AIDS and other sicknesses. How would you shape this policy?A: I believe that our
government must do so much more to get generic drugs and low-cost drugs to people suffering. Not only from HIV/AIDS, but the range of diseases that affect disproportionately the poor. Our great pharmaceutical companies invent the compounds and put them
together that the generics then are able to copy. But we need to do much more to get our pharmaceutical companies to work with us to get the drug costs down and to open the pathway for generic drugs. And that’s going to take presidential leadership.
I commend Pres. Bush for his PEPFAR initiative [President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief]. It was a bold & important commitment, but it didn’t go far enough in opening up the door to generics and getting the costs down. And as president, I will do that
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Source: 2008 Democratic Compassion Forum at Messiah College
Sarah Palin on Civil Rights
: Mar 4, 2008
HIV/AIDS among Alaska Natives is public health crisis
- WHEREAS, American Indians and Alaska Natives have experienced a long history of a lower health status, which includes a lower life expectancy and higher disease occurrence than other racial/ethnic groups due to inadequate health education,
disproportionate poverty, discrimination in the delivery of health care services, and access to quality health care.
- WHEREAS, the spread of HIV/AIDS virus among American Indians & Alaska Natives poses a significant risk to the public health and
well-being of these communities.
- WHEREAS, the status of HIV/AIDS epidemic among American Indians & Alaska Natives is a public health crisis that requires a focused national effort as well as tribal effort to bring attention to the prevention needs of
Indigenous people.
- NOW THEREFORE, I, Gov. Sarah Palin, do hereby proclaim March 20, 2008, as: Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day in Alaska, and ask the residents of Alaska to observe this day with appropriate programs and activities.
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Source: Alaska Governor’s Office: Proclamation, “Native HIV”
Barack Obama on Drugs
: Feb 11, 2008
Look at needle exchange; and expand treatment
Q: D.C. has the highest infection rate. How can we address that?A: I think it is important that we are targeting HIV/AIDS resources into the communities where we’re seeing the highest growth rates.
That means education and prevention, particularly with young people. It means that we have to look at drastic measure, potentially like needle exchange in order to insure that drug users are not transmitting the disease to each other.
And we’ve got to expand on treatment programs. And all of that is going to cost some money and some time. But again, if we think about the enormous costs of homelessness, or the enormous cost of
HIV/AIDS, over the long term, as people visit emergency rooms, etc. The more we are investing in that ounce of prevention the better off we’re going to be.
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Source: 2008 Politico pre-Potomac Primary interview
Hillary Clinton on Government Reform
: Feb 11, 2008
Get D.C. full voting rights, plus more direct federal funds
Q: The District of Columbia--it’s the nation’s capital, but a lot of residents here feel quite disconnected and alienated from the national government. How can you improve the lives of the residents of DC?A: When I was first lady,
I fought to increase their Medicaid match so that they would get more money in the district. It is the epicenter of the AIDS epidemic, unfortunately, right here in D.C. I worked to make sure that the adoption and foster care system was improved so that
we could get more kids into permanent homes. When I helped to pass the Children’s Health Insurance Program, we made sure that D.C. would be well taken care of. So I’ve already produced results for the people of this district, and I intend to do a lot
more as president. I want to get full voting rights for D.C. I think it is an injustice that has to be remedied. I want to be a better partner in working with the district on everything from its transportation challenges to its health care problems.
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Source: 2008 Politico pre-Potomac Primary interview
Hillary Clinton on Health Care
: Dec 1, 2007
Pledges to support $50B for AIDS relief in US and world
Today is World AIDS Day. All of us have committed to supporting $50 billion for global AIDS relief, which I am very excited about. But let’s not forget that AIDS now is growing again in our own country, particularly among African American and
Latino women. The leading cause of death for African American women between the ages of 25 and 34 is AIDS. So I want to ask all of my fellow candidates here if they would join me, not only in a pledge for what we’re going to do globally to address the
AIDS pandemic in Africa and Asia and elsewhere, but will you join me in a pledge that we’re going to do everything we can once again to address the AIDS pandemic right here in the US, and to put the money in that will provide the services and the
treatment and the prevention that our own people deserve to have. Because frankly we have turned our backs, we have frozen the amount of money, and I am very worried about what is happening to countless numbers of Americans when it comes to HIV and AIDS.
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Source: 2007 Iowa Brown & Black Presidential Forum
Barack Obama on Health Care
: Aug 9, 2007
We need condom distribution to deal with the scourge of AIDS
I’m somebody who is willing to talk about these issues, even when it’s hard, in front of black ministers. I’m willing to talk about AIDS at Saddleback Church to evangelicals and talk about why we need to have condom distribution to
deal with the scourge of AIDS. So that’s the kind of political courage that I hope all of you recognize is going to be necessary in order for us to create the kind of America that we all want.
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Source: 2007 HRC/LOGO debate on gay issues
Joe Biden on Health Care
: Jun 28, 2007
Got tested for AIDS after blood transfusion; no shame in it
Q: African-Americans, though 17% of all American teenagers, are 69% of the population of teenagers diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. What is the plan to protect these young people from this scourge?BIDEN: You’re asking, how do we prevent these 17-year-olds from
getting HIV? All the things that were said here [by the other candidates] are good ideas; but they don’t prevent that. There’s neglect on the part of the medical and the white community focusing on educating the minority community out there. I spent last
summer going through the black sections of my town, trying to get black men to understand it is not unmanly to wear a condom, getting women to understand they can say no, getting people in the position where testing matters. I got tested for AIDS.
I know Barack got tested for AIDS. There’s no shame in being tested for AIDS.
OBAMA: I got tested with my wife Michelle, in public, when we were in Kenya.
BIDEN: And I got tested to save my life, because I had 13 pints of blood transfusion.
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Source: 2007 Democratic Primary Debate at Howard University
Barack Obama on Health Care
: Jun 28, 2007
Homophobia prevents talking about HIV/AIDS
One of the things we’ve got to overcome is a stigma that still exists in our communities. We don’t talk about HIV/AIDS. We don’t talk about it in the schools.
Sometimes we don’t talk about it in the churches. It has been an aspect of sometimes homophobia that we don’t address this issue as clearly as it needs to be.
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Source: 2007 Democratic Primary Debate at Howard University
Barack Obama on Health Care
: Jun 28, 2007
Got tested for AIDS, with wife, in public, in Kenya
Q: African-Americans, though 17% of all American teenagers, are 69% of the population of teenagers diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. What is the plan to protect these young people from this scourge?BIDEN: You’re asking, how do we prevent these 17-year-olds from
getting HIV? All the things that were said here [by other candidates] are good ideas; but they don’t prevent that. I spent last summer going through the black sections of my town, trying to get black men to understand it is not unmanly to wear a condom,
getting women to understand they can say no, getting people in the position where testing matters. I got tested for AIDS. I know Barack got tested for AIDS. There’s no shame in being tested for AIDS.
OBAMA: I just got to make clear--I got tested with
Michelle, when we were in Kenya in Africa. I don’t want any confusion here about what’s going on.
BIDEN: And I got tested to save my life, because I had 13 pints of blood transfusion.
OBAMA: I was tested with my wife. In public.
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Source: 2007 Democratic Primary Debate at Howard University
Hillary Clinton on Health Care
: Jun 28, 2007
Outcry if AIDS were leading disease of young whites
Q: African-Americans, though 17% of all American teenagers, are 69% of the population of teenagers diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. What is the plan to stop and to protect these young people from this scourge? A: Let me just put this in perspective. If
HIV/AIDS were the leading cause of death of white women between the ages of 25 and 34, there would be an outraged outcry in this country.
I’m working to get Medicaid to cover treatment. I’m working to raise the budget for Ryan White, which the Bush
administration has kept flat, disgracefully so, because there are a lot of women, particularly, who are becoming infected in poor rural areas as well as underserved urban areas in states where, frankly, their state governments won’t give them medical
care.
So this is a multiple dimension problem. But if we don’t begin to take it seriously and address it the way we did back in the ‘90s, when it was primarily a gay men’s disease, we will never get the services and the public education that we need.
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Source: 2007 Democratic Primary Debate at Howard University
Barack Obama on Health Care
: Mar 27, 2007
Curing AIDS must be all-hands-on-deck effort
We are all sick because of AIDS and we are all tested by the crisis. Neither philanthropist nor scientist; neither government nor church can solve this problem on their own.
AIDS must be an all hands on deck effort.
I don’t think we can deny that there is a moral and spiritual component to prevention--I heard stories of men and women contracting HIV because sex was no longer part of a sacred covenant but a mechanical physical act. Having said that,
I also believe that we cannot ignore that abstinence--may not be the reality. If condoms and potentially microbicides can prevent millions of deaths, they should be made more widely available.
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Source: In His Own Words, edited by Lisa Rogak, p. 10
Barack Obama on Foreign Policy
: Oct 17, 2006
Visited Africa in 2006; encouraged HIV testing & research
Pro’s and Con’s: Obama visited African in 2006 and went to South Africa, Chad, and Kenya. Pro: He is a mensch. Here on a few things he did on his summer vacation:
- Attended a ceremony for the 200 people who died in the 1988 bombing of the
US Embassy.
- Encouraged the South African government to respond more effectively to HIV.
- Urged Kenya’s government to end corruption.
- Along with his wife, took a public HIV test.
-
Visited a malaria research institute.
- Visited a program helping children orphaned by AIDS.
- Visited his grandmother.
Con: Who cares? It is Africa. If we are going to go with a
President from a non-European background, let’s go with one whose relatives are from a country whose friendship will help us, like China or India.
Pro: Kenyans love him.
Con: Who cares? It’s Kenya.
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Source: Should Barack Obama be President, by F. Zimmerman, p. 27-28
Hillary Clinton on Abortion
: Apr 30, 2006
Partial birth exceptions for life-threatening abnormalities
In 2003, Sen. Hillary Clinton [commented] about the anatomically correct drawings I used to demonstrate the partial birth abortion procedure:CLINTON: The visual aids show a perfectly formed fetus, and that is misleading. We should have a chart that
demonstrates the tragic abnormalities that confront women forced with this excruciatingly difficult decision.
SANTORUM: Do we consider a child who may have an abnormality to be less of a child?
CLINTON: Does the Senator's legislation make exceptions
for serious life-threatening abnormalities or babies who are in such serious physical condition that they will not live outside the womb?
SANTORUM: No, if--
CLINTON: That is the point.
SANTORUM: Do you want to create a separation in the law between
those children who are perfect and those children who are not? The Americans with Disabilities Act says we treat all of God's children the same.
CLINTON: I value every single life and every single person.
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Source: It Takes A Family, by Sen. Rick Santorum, p.258-261
Barack Obama on Health Care
: Jul 12, 2004
Lead global fight against AIDS
[The US should] lead the global fight against the AIDS virus. The US must give its fair share to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to avoid both a humanitarian and economic crisis. President Bush’s budget this year actually cuts the
U.S. contribution to the Global Fund by 65 percent. As Senator, I will hold President Bush to his word and fully fund our commitment to the war on AIDS. We must also increase the availability of generic drugs to AIDS victims around the world.
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Source: Press Release, “Renewal of American Leadership ”
Barack Obama on Government Reform
: Aug 1, 1996
Campaign race baiting works in both directions
Black politicians discovered what white politicians had known for a very long time: that race-baiting could make up for a host of limitations. Younger leaders, eager to make a name for themselves, upped the ante, peddling conspiracy theories all over tow
-the Koreans were funding the Klan, Jewish doctors were injecting black babies with AIDS. It was a shortcut to fame, if not always fortune; like sex or violence on TV, black rage always found a ready market. Nobody I spoke with in the neighborhood seemed
to take such talk very seriously. As it was, many had already given up the hope that politics could actually improve their lives, much less make demands on them. To them, a ballot, if cast at all, was simply a ticket to a good show. Black had no real
power to act on the occasional slips into anti-Semitism or Asian-bashing, people would tell me; and anyway, black folks needed a chance to let off a little steam every once in a while-what do you think those folks say about us behind our backs?
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Source: Dreams from My Father, by Barack Obama, p.186
Page last updated: Apr 30, 2013