PEPFAR Director

Many will agree that during the Bush administration, not much was agreed on politically, medically or spiritually, amongst other top issues. Also, depending on what side of the fence you may stand or teeter on, some might argue that the Bush years brought few successes; however, one issue the Bush administration fought long and hard on was its fight against AIDS/HIV across the globe where it has reached epidemic proportions in many areas. In fact, PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) recently received extra funding turning it into a $48 billion industry; this is the largest relief effort ever created to help fight off malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS across the globe. With this much money backing up the organization and with its many documented successes, why then did Dr. Mark Dybul get fired from his job as the director of PEPFAR the day after our new president, Barack Obama, took the reins?

A San Francisco Chronicle article said that Dr. Dybul, a physician who was openly homosexual, was “scapegoated for the marginal portions of the Bush AIDS initiative such as an emphasis on sexual abstinence and a ban on aiding prostitutes. These are intemperate charges that miss the big picture: a conservative in the White House that woke up to a global scourge and actually did something.” PEPFAR was created in 2003 and has made available antiretroviral drugs to over two million people worldwide. With the Bush administration at the helm, the organization blossomed. Many voiced their opinion when the new administration’s dismissed Dybul, including Pastor Rick Warren and his wife Kay who stated that Dybul’s, “abrupt removal leaves both the initiative and the millions of people who depend on it at risk at a critical time of growth.” In fact, many people including volunteers from the Obama campaign and AIDS advocates, have strongly urged the Obama administration to open up the process by which a new director of PEPFAR will be chosen. An article in the British journal, The Lancet, voiced, “It is imperative that the move to fill this position is not made in haste.”

Naturally, many possible candidates for the position have been talked about. The possibilities include Jim Yong Kim, a one-time director of the World Health Organization’s HIV/AIDS department, now working at Harvard, Dr. Eric Goosby, a one-time Director of the Office of HIV/AIDS Policy when Bill Clinton was the president and Nils Daulaire, the former Presidnet of the Global Health Council. These potential candidates have not commented on these new developments. As the economy continues to spiral downward, many are worried that the significant $48 million budget could be at risk of being lost without a strong director chosen. This is why many are pushing so strongly for an open process to choose the next director, utilizing the experience and knowledge of researchers, advocates and medical professionals to form a choosing committee. Paul Zeitz, a director with the Global AIDS Alliance, adds, “There are a lot of global stakeholders who want to be heard. We’ve been hoping this new administration will carry out business in the transparent way they’ve promised.”