Obama Names Former Clinton Official Goosby To Global AIDS Coordinator, PEPFAR Post

Main Category: HIV / AIDS
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology;  Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 29 Apr 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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President Obama on Monday named Eric Goosby as the new global AIDS coordinator and administrator of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the New York Times reports. According to the Times, Goosby likely will be a "lightning rod" if he is confirmed by the Senate because some advocates are hoping to expand the current focus of PEPFAR prevention programs beyond abstinence and fidelity to include things like increased condom distribution and family planning programs. Although Goosby will stipulate some guidelines, other policies were written into law, the Times reports (Macfarquhar, New York Times, 4/27).

Goosby currently serves as CEO and chief medical officer of Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation and is a professor of clinical medicine at the University of California-San Francisco. During the Clinton administration, he served as deputy director of the White House National AIDS Policy Office and director of HHS' Office of HIV/AIDS Policy. According to White House officials, Goosby was a key player in the developing and implementing national HIV/AIDS treatment programs in China, Rwanda, South Africa and Ukraine (CQ HealthBeat, 4/27).

Goosby in a statement said that PEPFAR "has already saved millions of lives in sub-Saharan Africa and other hard-hit areas around the world. But significant challenges relating to the prevention and treatment of HIV remain." Some advocates of changing PEPFAR guidelines aim to include family planning programs that they say give women more HIV prevention options. "What we have found is that the disproportionate emphasis on abstinence and fidelity has led to the destruction of a comprehensive approach," William Smith, the vice president for public policy at the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, said. The Times reports that in the past, some maternal health organizations and HIV/AIDS groups have been "divided on how to handle financing with stipulations." However, advocates say that in recent months, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has led a reconciliation effort so that both sides can call for the same guidelines (New York Times, 4/27).

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