Two articles from the CDC - the first reports on
the South Africa government "downplaying" the AIDS
"epidemic" - the second article has right-wing Sen.
Bill Frist ordering the S. African government to
have the epidemic they are supposed to have so that
they can get a chunk of money-for-drugs:

    "The majority leader and other senators in the
   congressional  delegation to Africa will be instrumental
   in deciding how $15  billion, pledged by President Bush
   to combat AIDS, will be paid  out"

Given Sen Frist's tendency to own stock in medical
companies he helps steer government money to, I think
we can all read between the lines.

Interestingly, ALL of the senators dealing with the
S. Africa "problem" are Republicans ... the usual
suspects:

   Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio).
   John Warner (R- Va.)
   Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.)
   Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.)
   Norm Coleman (R-Minn.).

susie

===
http://www.cdcnpin.org/PrevNews/2003/aug03/update082203.txt

"South Africa Official Downplays AIDS; Visiting Senators Are
Told  Epidemic Having Little Effect" Chicago Tribune
(08.22.03)::Laurie Goering

Minister of Trade and Industry Alec Erwin, the
top South  African official to meet
with a visiting delegation of US  senators, told the
surprised group that the AIDS epidemic is  being
"well-managed" in his country and is having little effect
on life expectancy or the economy, according to Senate
Majority  Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.).      This apparent
denial of the scope of the crisis may  jeopardize South
Africa's chances of receiving a large share of  the $15
billion President Bush has promised for African AIDS  relief
over the next five years.       "If the US is going to be
investing taxpayers' money... we  need to make sure it's
invested with the full cooperation and  support of
governments," Frist said Thursday while touring AIDS  care
facilities near Johannesburg. "If there's not a recognized
problem among leading figures here, it makes it more
difficult"  to address the epidemic, he said.      Frist
stopped short of saying South Africa might lose its  chance
at a share of the US money. However, he said he was
disappointed that President Thabo Mbeki was out of the
country,  that Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang had
not scheduled a  meeting with the group, and that Erwin
seemed to be downplaying  the crisis. "Obviously, it
disturbs me. The complexity of the  problem demands
political leadership," said Frist, who is leading  the
six-senator delegation. The senators, who will also travel
to  Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia before returning to
Washington  for appropriations hearings, will play a key
role in determining  whether the funds are appropriated on
schedule and where they go. Delegation member Sen. Lamar
Alexander (R-Tenn.), who chairs  the Senate's African
Affairs Subcommittee, said he believes all  of the $15
billion will eventually be allocated, and that South  Africa
will get its share. "The South African government has not
as enthusiastically reacted to this [AIDS] challenge as I
would  have expected them to, but that is changing,"
Alexander said.

===

"US Senate Majority Leader Urges South Africa to Grasp
'Magnitude' of AIDS Problem" Associated Press
(08.21.03)::Dina Kraft

On Thursday, visiting US Senate
Majority Leader Bill Frist  (R-Tenn.) suggested that South
Africa's government take the scope  of its AIDS pandemic
more seriously. "I want to encourage the  political
leadership here to recognize the magnitude of the  problem,"
Frist told journalists.       The majority leader and other
senators in the congressional  delegation to Africa will be
instrumental in deciding how $15  billion, pledged by
President Bush to combat AIDS, will be paid  out.      The
South African government, under pressure to take  stronger
action against HIV/AIDS, instructed the Health Ministry
earlier this month to develop a plan for distributing AIDS
drugs  - a move Frist applauded. The government had earlier
refused to  supply its people with AIDS medicine through the
public health  system.      The senators' first stop
Thursday was Soweto's Chris Hani  Baragwanath Hospital.
Doctors there spoke of the frustration of  not being able to
properly treat most patients because AIDS drugs  are still
not available at prices their mostly impoverished  patients
could afford. The handful who are treated are part of
clinical trial tests.       "I can't afford medicine, it's
too expensive," said Busi, an  unemployed HIV-positive woman
who broke into sobs as she told the  senators her story.
Like many others, she is wary of going public  with her
status because of the intense stigma of having HIV/AIDS.
Busi, who would only give her first name, said she is often
sick,  but is only given basic antibiotics to keep
opportunistic  infections at bay.       At a nearby AIDS
orphanage funded partly by American money,  the senators
played games of cards with children and watched them  as
they colored. They sang along with the youths as they belted
out nursery rhymes and songs, but noted the same children
could  die without treatment. "It's a human tragedy. That is
why we have  to do everything we can to get drugs to these
kids," said Sen.  Mike DeWine (R-Ohio).      The other
senators on the delegation are John Warner (R- Va.), Lamar
Alexander (R-Tenn.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) and Norm  Coleman
(R-Minn.).