How ideology trumped science : why PEPFAR has failed to meet its potential

S. Evertz

The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, was launched in 2003 and represents a significant U.S. investment in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment efforts abroad. The investment's effectiveness was undercut, however, by the Bush administration's insistence on using religous ideology rather than science and data to drive decision making. This approach failed lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other communities particularly affected by HIV/AIDS. Scott Evertz served as director of the Office of National AIDS Policy during the Bush administration. While there, he was deeply involved in launching the PEPFAR program. The Obama administration has a historic opportunity to reframe PEPFAR as a program that champions the rights of all people, helps effectively stop the spread of HIV/AIDS, and humanely and competently treats those who already have it. With a chaper over the Uganda experience.