AFRO-NETS> Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report - Mon, 25 Feb 2002

[Cecilia Snyder <csnyder@ccmc.org>]

Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report - Mon, 25 Feb 2002
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* Gates, Carter Announce Africa Trip
* Former President Clinton to Lead Mission to Africa, Will Address AIDS
* Denver Trade Mission to Provide Medical Supplies to African Orphan-
  ages


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Gates, Carter Announce Africa Trip

Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates announced that he will join for-
mer President Jimmy Carter on a trip to Africa next week to discuss the 
impact of HIV/AIDS on the continent, the Associated Press reports. 
Gates, his wife Melinda and his father William Gates Sr. will accompany 
Carter and his wife Rosalynn to Africa from March 6-12. The group will 
meet with heads of state, government ministers, health workers, faith-
based organizations, volunteers, private businesses and HIV-positive 
individuals. During a speech at the conference yesterday, Gates "ques-
tioned" the United States' financial commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS in 
developing nations. "Particularly now as people are looking at the 
world as interconnected, we have to ask ourselves: Do we behave in a 
way in which we're sharing our largess, our good luck?" (Associated 
Press, 2/25).


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Former President Clinton to Lead Mission to Africa, Will Address AIDS

Former President Bill Clinton will lead a mission to Africa dedicated 
to finding solutions to several problems in the region, including 
HIV/AIDS, Reuters reports. The announcement was made Saturday at a sum-
mit of 11 government leaders in Stockholm, Sweden. The summit is part 
of a series of meetings organized by Clinton and British Prime Minister 
Tony Blair to "bring together leaders sharing an ideology seeking to 
combine capitalist market economy with a strong role for government in 
social welfare." As head of the mission, Clinton will "identify the 
steps needed to be taken by the world community and African governments 
to tackle Africa's challenges." In a statement, the leaders said, "We 
commit ourselves to work together to promote economic growth, education 
and health and fight the development challenges in Africa, including 
HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria." Along with Blair, South African 
President Thabo Mbeki and nine other heads of state attended the sum-
mit. Clinton was not present (Lynn, Reuters, 2/23).


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Denver Trade Mission to Provide Medical Supplies to African Orphanages

Members of Denver Mayor Wellington Webb's (D) humanitarian and trade 
mission to southern Africa announced during the first day of the mis-
sion a deal that would provide medical supplies to Botswanan AIDS or-
phanages, the Denver Post reports. Denver-based Project Cure will dis-
tribute the supplies to orphanages through the African Methodist Epis-
copal Church. James Jackson, president of Project Cure, and Ronald 
Wooding, a Jefferson County Jail assistant pastor who has previously 
worked with southern African orphanages, announced the agreement at a 
reception with U.S. Ambassador to Botswana John Lange. Jackson, Wooding 
and Webb, along with other members of the mission, including six other 
U.S. mayors, will visit a Durban, South Africa, orphanage that houses 
children with AIDS and children of parents who died from AIDS-related 
causes, during their 13-day mission (Brovsky, Denver Post, 2/22). Be-
fore leaving for the mission, Ted Hackworth, a Denver City Council mem-
ber, on Feb. 6 criticized Webb for spending city money and his time on 
the southern Africa mission during an "economic slowdown." Hackworth, 
who noted that his objections were purely financial and had nothing to 
do with AIDS, said, "At a time when the city is looking to cut $9 mil-
lion from the budget, I just question the priority of expenditures." 
Webb responded, "In a broader context, we have to figure out what kind 
of city we want to be. Do we want to be a city of the 1960s, or a city 
that can compete in international markets in 2020?" (Kaiser Daily 
HIV/AIDS Report, 2/8). "Anyone who says there is no relationship be-
tween economic development in South Africa and AIDS is not dealing with 
reality," Jackson added (Denver Post, 2/22).

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The Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a 
free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, by National 
Journal Group Inc. © 2002 by National Journal Group Inc. and Kaiser 
Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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