White House (CNSNews.com) – Promoting abstinence played a significant role in President George W. Bush’s efforts to combat HIV/AIDS around the world, which could be a key part of his legacy. However, some conservatives think an incoming Barack Obama administration could scrap the abstinence portion of the AIDS fighting program.
 
“The next administration will likely deemphasize, if not totally disregard abstinence,” Tom McClusky, vice president for government affairs at the Family Research Council, told CNSNews.com. “AIDS has not gone down as much in the United States as in Africa, and that is because there has not been as much emphasis on abstinence.”
 
Bush initiated the President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a $15-billion, five-year program that promotes ABC – Abstinence, Be faithful and Use condoms, around the world but mostly in Africa. Bush’s program was authorized by Congress in 2003 and reauthorized in 2007.
 
“Around the world, we've also supported care for more than 10 million people affected by HIV, including more than 4 million orphans and vulnerable children,” Bush said in a speech Monday from the White House.
 
“More than 237,000 babies have been born HIV-free, thanks to the support of the American people for programs to prevent mothers from passing the virus on to their children,” he added.
 
After Obama’s victory in the presidential race last month, one of his advisers on women’s health, Susan F. Wood, told Bloomberg News that an emphasis on abstinence and monogamy over condom use has not helped prevention efforts.
 
“We have been going in the wrong direction and we need to turn it around and be promoting prevention and family planning services and strengthening public health,” Woods said.
 
Accompanied by First Lady Laura Bush on Monday, the president spoke in front of the north portico of the White House adorned with a red ribbon to signify “World AIDS Day.”
 
“Thirty-three million people around the world are living with HIV, including more than 1 million Americans,” Bush said. “The ribbon is a symbol of our resolve to confront HIV/AIDS and to affirm the matchless value of every life.”
 
After his White House remarks, Bush accepted the International Medal of PEACE from the Global PEACE Coalition, at the Saddleback Forum on Global Health.
 
The Rev. Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, a California mega-church, issued the award. PEACE stands for Promote reconciliation, Equip servant leaders, Assist the poor, Care for the sick and Educate the next generation.
 
“No U.S. president or political leader has done more for global health than this administration, which has raised the bar on America’s role and responsibility for providing critical humanitarian assistance around the world,” Warren said in a statement before the award.
 
“Over the past eight years, President and Mrs. Bush have traveled the globe as they and their staffs have worked tirelessly to bring awareness and solutions to pandemics such as HIV/AIDS,” he added.
 
Speaking in a videotaped message to the Saddleback forum, President-elect Obama did not address the specifics of his own plan, but said, “I salute President Bush for his leadership in crafting a plan for AIDS relief in Africa and backing it up with funding dedicated to saving lives and preventing the spread of the disease. And my administration will continue this critical work to address the crisis around the world.”
 
McClusky called the PEPFAR program “the best foreign outreach the administration has done – more than the war on terror,” but he also said there is room for improvement.
 
“It shows better results than other government programs,” McClusky said. “Can it be better economically run? I think so.”
 
The president of Uganda and other African leaders have been receptive to abstinence education, McClusky said.
 
Further, a decrease in sexual activity among unmarried young people in Kenya has helped reduce that country’s HIV infection rates by about two-thirds over the last decade, according to the White House.
 
That should be enough to refute critics of abstinence education, said Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women of America.
 
“The problem comes from too many people making too much money off the HIV problem,” Wright told CNSNews.com. “They should honestly look at what works rather than blindly look at programs that promote sexual license.”
 
Wright is not optimistic, however.
 
“We are concerned the new administration will not be faithful to the intent of Congress on this legislation,” Wright said. “If the new administration changes the focus and directs money away from abstinence education, innocent people will pay the price for that.”