Here is something I don’t write about very often: a situation in which unpredictable, seemingly irrational politics saved millions of the poorest and most vulnerable people on earth.
The program, started by President George W. Bush, paid for antiretroviral medications for millions of H.I.V.
“The conventional wisdom within health economics was that sending AIDS drugs to Africa was a waste of money,” Sandefur wrote.
It wasn’t that the drugs didn’t work: Antiretroviral therapy had achieved revolutionary results in controlling H.I.V.-AIDS, and had the potential to save the lives of infected people and prevent new infections.
transmission more likely, data suggested, would save more lives per dollar than treatment would.
Persons:
Justin Sandefur, George W, Bush, ” Sandefur, Forbes, ” Emily Oster
Organizations:
Center for Global Development, Washington , D.C, AIDS Relief, Brown University
Locations:
Washington ,, Saharan Africa, Caribbean, Africa, H.I.V