
The U.S. Blew $1.4B on Abstinence Education in Africa - Dowwie
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-u-s-blew-1-4-billion-on-abstinence-education-in-africa/
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brotherjerky
It's only wasted money if you believe the aim was actually to help anyone in
Africa. The real aim was purely political.

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FussyZeus
What political gains were made though? Or do you mean the goal was to make it
look good to the folks at home?

~~~
danso
I posted a comment just as you posted this, so forgive the repost of this
link: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eugene-robinson-
geor...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eugene-robinson-george-w-
bushs-greatest-legacy--his-battle-against-
aids/2012/07/26/gJQAumGKCX_story.html)

tl;dr: PERPAR has cost nearly ~$50B all together. The abstinence aspect may
have jelled nicely with how the Bush administration sees the world, but it
certainly also would have been a "sweetener" in getting a Republican-
controlled Congress to approve so much foreign aid for non-terrorism-related
purposes during Bush's terms.

edit: oops, posted the excerpt from the link rather than the link itself.

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danso
Is there a link to the study? Do its conclusions throw any criticism towards
other aspects of Bush's AIDS program (PEPFAR), such as its providing of
antiretroviral treatment?

[https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eugene-robinson-
geor...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eugene-robinson-george-w-
bushs-greatest-legacy--his-battle-against-
aids/2012/07/26/gJQAumGKCX_story.html)

> _When the Bush administration inaugurated the program in 2003, fewer than
> 50,000 HIV-infected people on the African continent were receiving the
> antire­troviral drugs that keep the virus in check and halt the progression
> toward full-blown AIDS. By the time Bush left office, the number had
> increased to nearly 2 million. Today, the United States is directly
> supporting antiretroviral treatment for more than 4 million men, women and
> children worldwide, primarily in Africa._

Obviously, there was more than one aspect to PEPFAR, and the abstinence aspect
may have taken $1.4B on its own. According to the Wapo article referenced
above, the total cost of PEPFAR was $46B. I wonder how much of the purpose of
the abstinence program was predicated on a strategic angle to get Congress to
approve the overall package. Because that's a ton of money to spend on
humanitarian foreign aid, especially with a Republican-controlled Congress.

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FussyZeus
Abstinence education has never been effective anywhere to prevent anything, be
it teen pregnancy or the spread of STDs. It's also worth noting that in the
States, the states with the highest emphasis on Abstinence only education have
the highest rates of teen pregnancies.

As it turns out, hormonal teenagers when left alone will have sex regardless
of how much they are told not to. I know, I used to be one. Apparently this
lesson still needs teaching in huge parts of the world.

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jrcii
>hormonal teenagers when left alone will have sex regardless

Because you have no faith doesn't mean no one else does, what you're saying is
false. There are people who obey God, even though you clearly can't imagine
it.

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FussyZeus
Speaking as a Christian, here's the thing: People fuck up. A lot. Everyone
does and yeah, it would be a great thing if people would wait for "the one"
before they went ahead with the act.

Out here in the real world, sometimes you think you found the one. Other times
you just get stuck in a heated moment and do something dumb. It happens. And
when it happens you should be equipped with the knowledge to keep yourself
safe. I don't have a problem with Abstinence, I have a problem with Abstinence
ONLY because it denies people who we are expecting to act as adults incredibly
valuable information for their health and their future.

I mean seriously, would you buy a car with no airbags in it and when you ask
about it, the salesman says "Well just don't crash then?"

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makinori
An interesting question to be asked as well is why a north american country is
putting their effort and money in abstinence education in another continent ?!

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walrus01
Thanks, Bush, and the religious fundies who hijacked the Republican party!

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vessenes
Bush is widely considered to have been the best president for African aid by
Africans. See for instance
[http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/04/george-w-
bushs-...](http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/04/george-w-bushs-legacy-
on-africa-wins-praise-even-from-foes/)

and [http://www.usnews.com/news/the-
report/articles/2015/07/28/ob...](http://www.usnews.com/news/the-
report/articles/2015/07/28/obamas-legacy-on-africa-lacks-compared-to-bush)

Seriously. Bush is well loved in Sub-saharan africa, speaking very broadly of
course.

~~~
walrus01
You only need to google "bush abstinence only program" to see a great deal of
documentation of the changes the Bush administration made to sex-education
funding, both domestic and international:

[https://www.google.com/search?q=bush+abstinence+only+program...](https://www.google.com/search?q=bush+abstinence+only+program&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b)

