Bush approach doesn't stop AIDS

GAO Criticizes Bush's AIDS Plan
Abstinence-and-Fidelity Provision Sowing Confusion, Report Says

By David Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 5, 2006; Page A03

The requirement that a large fraction of President Bush's global AIDS plan go to promote abstinence and fidelity is causing confusion in many countries and in a few is eroding other prevention efforts, including ones to reduce mother-to-child transmission of the virus.

Those are among the chief conclusions of an 87-page report by the Government Accountability Office that examined the most controversial aspect of the giant AIDS plan, budgeted at $15 billion over five years.

The survey of U.S.-funded programs in 20 countries -- 15 of them the focus of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) -- found widespread support for the "ABC" strategy that encourages abstinence until marriage, being faithful thereafter and using condoms in high-risk sexual encounters.

(There is more here.)