Franklin Graham video
Here is a short video of Franklin Graham, head of Samaritan’s Purse, on a medical mission to treat people with HIV. Interesting to see religious groups in the field. This is from February 2007. While these groups get quite a lot of criticism as recipients of federal largesse under PEPFAR (see also this Boston Globe piece), Samaritan’s Purse say they get very little money from the federal government. Most of their funds come from private donors.
I’ll post some more links on this, but there has been quite a lot on the capture of AIDS policy in countries like Uganda by religious groups and those opposed to condom use. I’m not sure this criticism is quite fair, in part because I think some groups are more pragmatic in the field, but also because women aren’t always in a position to demand their male partners use condoms. Abstinence, as I understand it, as part of portfolio of prevention programs may delay the first sexual experience of some young women. The broader problem is that few prevention programs seem to be working. I’ll come back and hyperlink old posts on this shortly. Interestingly, a new African poll suggested that despite high prevalence of AIDS in Africa that many people are quite optimistic about the future. Economic performance in recent years has actually been pretty good in a number of countries.
Filed under: Politics and Policy