AEGiS-WSJ: Clinton on AIDS: 'We Should Do More At Home'

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Clinton on AIDS: 'We Should Do More At Home'

Wall Street Journal Blog - August 5, 2008
Posted by Jacob Goldstein

Bill Clinton, who has made fighting AIDS in the developing world a central theme of his post-presidency, called for more effort to fight the disease in the U.S.

He spoke yesterday at the big international AIDS conference on now in Mexico City.

Earlier at the conference, the CDC said it had been radically undercounting the number of new HIV infections per year in the U.S. - raising its estimate to more than 56,000 per year, from 40,000 per year. (Click on the video at left for more on that issue.)

That revision "should be a wake-up call," Clinton said. "We should do more at home, and I intend to do so."

Speaking to an audience of thousands, Clinton said "AIDS is a big dragon à [that] must be slain by millions and millions of foot soldiers."

Clinton didn't provide specifics on how he intends to focus more on AIDS in the U.S., the Washington Post says.

But one idea being discussed at the conference is taking some of the $50 billion the U.S. has allocated for fighting AIDS abroad and spending it domestically, to shore up gaps in care and improve prevention, especially among hard-hit minority groups, the WSJ reports.

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