EXCLUSIVE: State Department Rebuts Democrat Claims That AIDS Program Isn’t Operational

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Congressional Democrats, with the help of corporate media, are pushing a false narrative about the Trump administration’s cuts to foreign aid programs, according to information provided to The Daily Signal by a State Department official.

In response to concerns about the Trump administration’s cuts to global AIDS programs, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that 85% of the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, remains operational.

Some Democrats have questioned the credibility of the 85% figure. “It’s made up,” Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz said when asked about the number by POLITICO for a story headlined “Democrats say Rubio isn’t playing it straight about foreign aid cuts.”

POLITICO reporters Carmen Paun, Amanda Friedman and Robert King wrote that “Rubio has made the claim repeatedly in budget testimony before Congress, but neither he nor the State Department will provide a detailed accounting to back up the figure.”

But The Daily Signal has learned that as of June 9, implementing agencies for the program estimate they are currently providing treatment to 17.8 million beneficiaries across more than 40 countries.

As of June 9, the Health Resources and Services Administration has treated an estimated 4,325 beneficiaries. The Centers for Disease Control has treated more than 11.4 million, the Department of Defense has treated 670,816, U.S. Agency for International Development has treated 4.7 million, and South Africa Central Support has treated 1 million, adding up to over 17.8 million.

This equates to roughly 86% of an estimated 20.6 million pre-Jan. 20 beneficiaries.

“Once again, the fake news is so focused on pushing their narrative they are missing the story. The 85% figure the secretary has been mentioning, and POLITICO claimed is wrong, remains generally accurate today,” a senior State Department official told The Daily Signal. “The State Department continues to build on the decades of progress under PEPFAR and this funding underscores our commitment to providing this lifesaving humanitarian assistance.”

The 85% figure was based on a late March estimate of direct treatment and prevention of mother to child transmission beneficiaries who would be receiving services, assuming full operational status of any non-terminated awards across the interagency program. 

While some operational challenges existed during the foreign assistance pause during Trump’s first 90 days in office, those have now been largely alleviated and operational capacity continues to improve daily, according to a State Department official.

In fact, the 85% figure may even be low because the State Department has observed partner governments, nongovernmental organizations, and international organizations increasing their contributions, especially in higher income countries.

“We have worked with these groups to facilitate greater burden sharing—a key goal as we try to move countries towards the glide path to self-reliance,” the State Department official said.

In recent weeks, Rubio has approved the release of $1.3 billion in funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS. At least 60% of that will be used for the purchase of antiretrovirals, a combination of medications used to treat HIV.

The State Department has also approved several hundred million dollars in new cost modifications to ensure the continuity and extension of ongoing PEPFAR programming, according to the State official.

PEPFAR is the largest health program for a single disease in the world, and it costs American taxpayers more than $6 billion per year to fund HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment abroad. Since its inception in 2003, U.S. taxpayers have spent $110 billion on the program.

The Trump administration has saved taxpayers nearly $60 billion since it took office just over a month ago by eliminating programs in the State Department and the USAID alone.

The post EXCLUSIVE: State Department Rebuts Democrat Claims That AIDS Program Isn’t Operational appeared first on The Daily Signal.