NYT/Reuters: Arm Women with AIDS-Preventing Drug, Bill Gates Urges

[DeepModem Mom]

Arm Women with AIDS - Preventing Drug, Gates Urges
By REUTERS
Published: August 13, 2006

TORONTO (Reuters) - A cream, gel or pill that women can use to protect themselves from the AIDS virus is key to stopping the AIDS pandemic, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who has given hundreds of millions of dollars to HIV programs, said on Sunday.

Gates said he would step up funding for prevention research but said governments and other donors needed to do so, also.

"We want to call on everyone here and around the world to help speed up what we hope will be the next big breakthrough in the fight against AIDS -- the discovery of a microbicide or an oral prevention drug that can block the transmission of HIV,'' Gates said in a speech to open the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto.

"This could mark a turning point in the epidemic, and we have to make it an urgent priority.''...

***

"We need to put the power to prevent HIV in the hands of women,'' Gates said. "We are determined to help medical science discover these new drugs and get them to the people who need them.''...

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-aids.html

[villager]

1. I think the time has come to "arm women," period -- just women

--the world 'round, to reverse the equation for awhile, and then see what shifts occur...

[Zorra]

2. The "abstinence is the only way" fundy republicans will vote to make

this type of disease prevention illegal.

They'll say it will promote sexual activity among unmarried women, and therefore it must be banned.

To the fundy republicans, it is far better that millions of people suffer and die than a single unmarried woman have sex.

That said, Bill Gates may be correct - it sounds like a great idea to me.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

3. No kidding

They'll oppose this like they opposed the HPV vaccine and the morning after pill.

[Miss Chybil]

4. This is good news! I never heard of such a drug. nt

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. no, haven't found it yet....

but the research looks good.

[Kailassa]

5. And what about men?

Is Gate's attitude: "they're just queers, so who cares"?

Surely a cream that works for women when used vaginally
would also work for the "receiving" male when applied analy?

"We need to put the power to prevent HIV in the hands of women,"
Gates said. "We are determined to help medical science discover
these new drugs and get them to the people who need them."...

Is it just me, or do others also hear a distinct anti-gay
sentiment in what is Gates does not say here?

[DeepModem Mom]

8. I think that statement was addressing problems with heterosexual men...

in societies where women are pretty powerless. Re. a cream or gel: "A woman could use one quietly, without having to ask her husband or partner to use a condom or to abstain from sex."

Good point, however, about potential medications possibly protecting both sexes --

[fun n serious]

9. I think you're looking for something that is not there.

Bill Gates is a kind generous registered democrat. He said nothing about homosexuals.

[LostinVA]

10. Gates is not being homophobic

He's talking about women in African countries and other societies where AIDS is shooting through the roof, and women are catching it from their husbands, etc.

I'm a lesbian, and am very, very in-tune to coded homophobia... Gates is one of the good guys here.

[closeupready]

11. While I understand what you are saying,

consider the fact that many people still suggest or imply that AIDS is God's punishment on the sinful, and won't listen to reason.

I think Gates is speaking to that kind of prejudiced audience, trying to appeal to what is sadly the lowest common denominator in order to swing public opinion in favor of more money/assistance.

So I do not think that this reflects homophobia on Gates' part (God bless him for all that he has done for other people, and he's done tons) - I think he is trying to address homophobia and sexism on the part of people who discriminate against those with AIDS.

[Vidar]

7. Good idea.