Bush people

I sure did pick an interesting time to be in Ghana! My visit here touches the CAN2008 on one end and George Bush' African Five-Nation Tour on the other. He is scheduled to arrive in Ghana tomorrow for an official state visit. As I think goes without further explanation, I will not be part of the cheering crowds that seem to be following him on this tour so far. Not only has he been messing up the world in a major way, he is now also messing up my schedule!

The emphasis of the Five-Nation Tour is on health care issues in Africa so given the obvious overlap between my job here and his, Mr Bush has been stealing away people from my interview list. I found myself rebuffed this morning by the Director General of one of Ghana's principal Health Services because he was scheduled at a meeting in preparation of the Tour. I still have a long way to go before I take priority over the U.S. President I guess.

One of the main issues under discussion is further support for programmes to fight three of the most destructive diseases in the world, particularly in Africa: tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS. Bush' own pet project is the PEPFAR, a snappy acronym for the "President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief". In itself it is difficult to be against any plan that aims to combat HIV/AIDS. The problem lies, however, in the strategy with which it tries to do so. The Bush Plan is based on the so-called ABC strategy: Abstinence, Be faithful, Condoms. It is a message that rings incredibly naive to me. HIV/AIDS is not a disease of bad morals; it is a serious public health issue that needs a much wider array of weapons to fight it. The reason I am in Ghana is that we are trying to support a programme that will hopefully increase access to essential medicines for those too poor to afford them. Let's hope that message does not get snowed under in the chorus of those that preach abstinence is the way.