Thompson Draws Praise, Criticism for Trimming AIDS Conference Expense
By Jeff Gannon, Talon News,April 13, 2004

Conservative lawmakers are applauding the action taken by Health and Human
Services Secretary Tommy Thompson to significantly reduce the cost of sending
government scientists to this year's International AIDS Conference.

The group of 30 Republican House members sent a letter to Thompson thanking him
for his "leadership in working to scale back the largess of the federal
involvement" at such events.

The letter points to news reports that say HHS will spend $500,000 to send 50
people to July's conference in Bangkok, Thailand. While the lawmakers say that
sending 50 people at a cost of $10,000 each "seems like an enormous expense"
they recognize that number is far smaller than the costs incurred for the 2002
conference in Barcelona, Spain.

Two years ago, the agency spent $3.2 million to send 236 people to the event.

Some scientists and officials from the National Institutes for Health and the
Centers for Disease Control are reportedly "outraged" at the cutback. But HHS
spokesman Bill Pierce was quoted in Science magazine saying that spending for
the Barcelona conference was "excessive" and that the 50 people permitted to
attend exceeds by 10 the number agency policy usually allows for international
delegations.

Additionally, Pierce pointed out that staff already stationed in Southeast Asia
are exempt from the cap and individuals who are giving keynote speeches or
presenting papers have priority. He noted that researchers who are not able to
attend the conference can "share their findings" through other outlets, such as
scientific journals.

Total annual U.S. HIV/AIDS spending in 2004 is at an all-time high of $18.5
billion, more than any nation in the world. Congress recently passed a
five-year, $15 billion initiative to combat global HIV/AIDS.

The lawmakers requested that Thompson provide information to Congress regarding
the agency's financial support for similar conferences that will take place this
year. They are asking the Secretary to identify each of the conferences and
itemize the funding they receive.

A comparison between the number of HIV/AIDS and STD-related conferences
supported by HHS with events related to other health concerns such as heart
disease and breast cancer was also requested.

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