Secretary Clinton reaffirms U.S. commitment to 'AIDS-free generation,' pledges more than $150M for global efforts

In a speech delivered at the XIX International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C., on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "underscored the United States' commitment to achieving an 'AIDS-free generation' and announced more than $150 million in additional funding," Politico reports (Norman, 7/23). "'I've heard a few voices from people raising questions about America's commitment,' she said, adding, 'We will not back off. We will not back down,'" according to The Hill's "Healthwatch" (Viebeck, 7/23). For the pledge, "$80 million will be dedicated towards preventing mother-to-child transmission abroad, with the goal of eliminating it by the year 2015"; "[a]nother $40 million is allotted for voluntary male circumcision in Africa to decrease risk of transmission of the virus"; "an additional $15 million [will] fund research on interventions"; "$20 million [will] bolster country-led efforts to expand HIV-related services"; and "$2 million [will go] towards civil society groups to reach key populations affected by HIV," ABC News writes (Duwell, 7/23). "Clinton said she had commissioned [U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby] to produce a blueprint for the way ahead," the Guardian notes (Boseley, 7/23). "Goosby's deadline is the upcoming World AIDS Day, Dec. 1," Inter Press Service adds (Biron, 7/23).

"The new moves also come as U.S. funding for global AIDS work could be reduced substantially in fiscal 2013," the Wall Street Journal adds, noting, "The administration's budget request for its global bilateral HIV/AIDS programs for fiscal 2013 was $546 million less than it was funded for fiscal 2012, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation." However, the newspaper adds, the U.S. "also proposed $350 million more for its annual contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria" (McKay, 7/23). "Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) noted that Congress's appropriation for HIV/AIDS this year exceeded President Obama's request," the Washington Post notes (Brown/Botelho, 7/23). Clinton "emphasized that other countries needed to step up to the plate and do their part, in particular by supporting the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria," the AIDS.gov blog states (7/23). "In 2011, global spending on AIDS was $16.8 billion, far short of the $24 billion needed by 2015, according to U.N. estimates," Agence France-Presse writes (Biddle/Sheridan, 7/23).