Number of poor on AIDS treatment up

LAKE FOREST, Calif. -- The number of poor people on AIDS treatment around the world has roughly doubled in the last year, which officials say is dramatic proof that billions of US dollars spent fighting the deadly virus in Africa and elsewhere has extended the lives of more than 1 million people, according to figures released yesterday.

In Washington, President Bush marked World AIDS Day by hailing the progress of worldwide efforts to fight AIDS -- both through his own $15 billion program and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, which combines private donations and government grants.

"This country is committed . . . in helping solve this problem by dedicating a lot of resources to the battle against HIV/AIDS," he said at a meeting with AIDS activists.

Three years ago, only 50,000 Africans received treatment; now, Bush's US government program alone is helping treat 822,000 people, nearly all of them in Africa.

"We thank those who are on the ground in the countries around the world who are using taxpayers' money to save lives," the president said. "We believe that it's one thing to spend money, we also believe it's another thing to say that we expect there to be results."

Bush also ended a 13-year-old ban on visas for HIV-positive people to travel to the United States without a waiver. Now, those infected with the virus will be able to receive short-term tourist visas or 60-day business visas in a "streamlined" process, according to a White House statement.

In this southern California community, meanwhile, two senators, Barack Obama, the Illinois Democrat, and Sam Brownback, the Kansas Republican, each publicly took an HIV test to encouraging others to do the same. Both are considered presidential hopefuls. Joining them was Rick Warren , the best-selling author of "Purpose Driven Life" and founding pastor of Lake Forest's influential Saddleback Church, which hosted a two-day Global Summit on AIDS and the Church this week.

Several conservative Christians had objected to Warren's invitation of Obama because of the senator's pro-choice stance on abortion. Obama said he offered to skip the conference, but Warren insisted that he come.

Obama, who had taken an HIV test on a trip to his ancestral homeland of Kenya earlier this year, said that politicians, church leaders, and others could respectfully disagree on some issues, but should unite in fighting AIDS. In particular, he said, it was critical to enlist the help of evangelical churches such as Saddleback as well as other churches around the country.

"We should never underestimate how powerful the passion of people of faith can be in making a difference in this world," he told the 2,000 attendees, consisting mostly of religious and secular AIDS activists.

Brownback, who joked about Obama's phenomenal popularity with a quip about sharing the stage with "Elvis," hailed what he called a new era of American involvement in poor countries. He urged people to travel to the developing world and help communities that are less fortunate than their own.

"If we just gave them the crumbs off our table, they can live and we can save our souls," he said.

Brownback told the story of a waitress in rural Kansas who sold cantaloupes to finance a trip to Brazil, where she started a center for orphans.

"She saved a bunch of lives," he said. "Come on guys, can't we do something?" The audience cheered.

Government statistics released yesterday showed that programs are starting to have a major impact on AIDS treatment around the world. A year ago, the US and Global Fund programs combined to treat 600,000 infected people; now, they are treating about 1.2 million. In low- and middle-income countries overall, about 2 million AIDS patients are receiving life-extending anti-retroviral drugs, almost twice as many people as last year, officials said.

Nevertheless, several activist groups this week criticized the pace of global treatment, saying it can't meet the goal set by the most powerful countries two years ago: near-universal treatment by 2010.

"Anybody who criticizes treatment progress hasn't been paying attention," said Richard Feachem , executive director of the Global Fund. "We started four years ago with nobody on treatment in the developing world -- zero, nothing, zilch. We've taken a big step forward."

There's still more work ahead, Feachem said; he estimated that 10 million people in the developing world may need treatment by 2010. Ambassador Mark R. Dybul , head of the US global AIDS programs, said the US program was "on the upswing" and on target to treat 2 million infected people by the end of 2008.

The Global Fund said it was supporting the treatment of 770,000 people; it counts among them some of the same people who are also helped by the US treatment programs.

On visas for HIV-positive people, students and others seeking longer stays in America still need a waiver to travel. Leonard S. Rubenstein , executive director of Physicians for Human Rights, a Cambridge-based advocacy group, applauded the decision but said it didn't go far enough.

"This is a step away from a very repressive and regressive policy, but it doesn't truly represent ending the discrimination against HIV" patients, he said.

John Donnelly can be reached at donnelly@globe.com.