Diary Prequel Package — page 49

I sat next to the President, the Press asked about needle exchange. Tommy G. Thompson (TGT) was not briefed on this issue and I told him briefly that we (Fauci, Jeff Koplan of CDC, David Satcher - Surgeon General, Alan Leschner - Director NIDA and others) had recommended to Donna Shalala upon review of the scientific data that the Clinton Adm. allow Federal funding of needle exchange. However, based on objections of Gen. McAffrie (Drug Czar) and certain Black leaders, Clinton would not allow it. (Of note Clinton was at the AIDS Conference in Barcelona and publicly stated that he regretted that decision and wished that he had allowed needle exchange). In essence, I told TGT that Clinton did not allow it and we (current administration) are not allowing it. This created a bit of a stir in the press since when asked at the press event (backstage) after the demonstration, he seemed confused about the dichotomy between scientific data and policy. I had to come in and explain the issue. I made it very clear that based on the scientific data, I had recommended that Clinton allow exchange. TGT said that he would ask Dr. Fauci to go over the data again, which the Press did not buy since they know the data are absolutely conclusive. It was a little awkward for TGT, but he is going to have to face the issue that the Bush Adminstration will likely do (and is doing) exactly what the Clinton Administration did and follow a policy that contradicts the scientific data. An important event at the meeting was a meeting that I arranged in my hotel (Fira de Palace) among myself, Mark Dybul, Cissy (?last name) and Peter Mugyenyi from Uganda. Peter is the Director of the Joint Clinical Research Center (JCRC) in Kampala. He is successfully treating many Ugandans with antiretroviral therapy (ART). We (Mark and I) want to use his model to try to implement the plan that Josh Bolten asked me about (see above and below). Peter showed us his plan of a main center with regional satelites and subgroups out of the satelites. These are low-tech clinics and each cost about $30,000.00 which is much less that the proposals that we have heard. I was very impressed with this and plan to use this as a model to put together a program to present to the WH (see below) It was a great meeting for me in that I became even closer (if that is possible) to TGT. He implicitly and explicitly trusts me and my opinion. I appeared on the Aaron Brown Show on CNN during the conference and this went extremely well. July 14, 2002 - C-SPAN's Washington Journal - I appeared for 45 minutes on the show the morning after returning from the AIDS conference. I had spent July 7-10 at the conference and July 11-12 in Genoa as Chair of the International Scientific Committee that is reviewing the Gaslini Institute for Lorenzo Moretta (its Scientific Director) July 16, 2002 - Diane Rehm Show - Spent a terrific 1 hour alone on the show with Diane. I went over the AIDS Conference highlights. I explained about and defended Secretary Thomspon vis-a-vis the demonstration against him. Also, I defended the Administration in that I related that they actually are willing to greatly support international AIDS efforts, but that they require developing nations and others involved to put forth a strategic plan with accountability, endpoints, projected deliverables, etc. I received excellent reviews for the show. I have it on tape as a reference. July 17, 2002 - Meeting at the White House with Gary Edson and Jay Lefkowitz. We discussed the details and implementation of the MTCT project. Obviously, there will be