David Waggoner’s Frontdesk

It doesn’t happen everyday that a political leader grants an interview on the subject of AIDS. It seems the most we get is a mention—President Bush’s State of the Union address touched on HIV/AIDS as a serious problem confronting not only the United States, but also dozens of nations around the globe. But an in-depth interview with someone like Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who lived for eight years in the White House and served the common good of the millions of Americans living with serious health conditions? Now that is truly history-making.

B. Andrew Plant’s exclusive interview with Senator Clinton is a first of its kind for an HIV/AIDS magazine. Now, more than ever, Mrs. Clinton feels passionate about speaking out. As the junior Senator from New York, Clinton feels that it is important to take advantage of new opportunities as we face the reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act come September. For one thing, two-thirds of new HIV infections in women occur in the African-American community. This trend, according to Senator Clinton means that “since women are also traditionally caregivers of children and family members, we need to ensure that our programs are flexible enough to recognize the dual role of women as both provider and patient.”

Although social support systems are dramatically better here than in most developing nations, it is not without merit that Senator Clinton espouses that the U.S. can play a mentoring role in dealing with the international AIDS crisis. She believes that the U.S. needs to lead by example: “Many women and girls [especially in the developing world]...are forced into situations where they have to have sex with partners to avoid abuse.”

More today than five years ago, women are increasingly a larger share of those individuals who test HIV-positive. Early treatment of mothers—particularly pregnant women—will help reduce the threat of AIDS becoming a permanent fixture in America’s poorer neighborhoods. Ever the leader, Clinton discusses the desire for many, including herself, to bring about greater financial investment in vaccine research, support services, and community-based initiatives.

Washington, in Mrs. Clinton’s estimation, can and should continue to be a world leader; shirking its responsibilities now will affect millions of men, women, and children throughout the developing world. Countries too poor to afford even aspirin can barely begin to manage a disease as complicated and expensive to treat as HIV. With healthcare systems in disarray, people living in despair and without the ability to afford leadership let alone medicine—these are all the reasons for asking Washington to act as the international AIDS crisis’s moral compass.

This is not surprising coming from a First Lady, for Mrs. Clinton has been first in many things, including advocating for “our government’s early action on promoting testing.” This has saved thousands of lives, and helped to reduce mother-to-child transmission rates.

It wasn’t so long ago, was it, when Mrs. Clinton was living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, that AIDS ribbons were aflutter, and Hollywood was making movies about HIV? But for the dozens of world leaders who have turned a cold eye, as well as a cold shoulder, to the millions living with HIV, there are at least some advocates whose courage and steadfastness have never faltered. So many of them have been women—Princess Diana, Elizabeth Taylor, Dr. Mathilde Krim, Elizabeth Glaser come to mind immediately. And Hillary Rodham Clinton. AIDS is no match for these leading ladies.

April 2005