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"That's why they call it ABC and not CBA," Santorum told Christianity Today.

But Shepherd Smith, president of the Institute for Youth Development, a nonpartisan organization that promotes a message of risk avoidance to young people, noted that condoms have helped curb the spread of disease among prostitutes and those who visit them. "So to say that condoms don't work is not realistic in today's world," Smith said.

Fighting HIV/AIDS overseas doesn't carry the complications that such efforts do domestically. Conservative Jerry Thacker, who contracted the virus in 1986 from a blood transfusion, withdrew his nomination to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS on January 23, after being accused of calling HIV/AIDS the "gay plague" and homosexuality a "deathstyle". Thacker later told Christianity Today that because homosexual activists have politicized the virus in the United States, fighting the disease abroad is easier.

Smith traveled to four African nations last year as part of a delegation with Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson. Jay Lefkowitz, deputy assistant to President Bush for domestic policy, said that trip helped form a consensus that American money could help save many lives at risk from HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and starvation.

Last year Samaritan's Purse held a "Prescription for Hope" conference in Washington, D.C. Frist was one of the speakers during the gathering of 900 African, religious, and Bush administration officials. SP organized a similar meeting in Kampala in February.

As of early March, the Bush administration had not released the full details of its HIV/AIDS spending plan. An early outline of the plan does not call for major spending until the start of fiscal 2004 this October.

The additional spending may go further because the cost of fighting HIV/AIDS is less than it was a decade ago. The price of antiretroviral drugs has plunged from thousands of dollars a year to $300 annually. In addition, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved a rapid HIV test by OraSure Technologies Inc.

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), who is chairman of the HIV/AIDS caucus in the House, welcomed the proposed increase in spending. But he questioned whether the Bush administration will lobby for it vigorously. "I'm afraid we've got such a terrible problem with the war in Iraq that there won't be any money left," he said. "I hope I'm wrong. It's such a disaster in Africa."

Copyright © 2003 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Last month, Christianity Today posted an exclusive interview with Jerry Thacker: "Politics Muddies Fight Against AIDS | The politics of homosexuality has made it easier to battle the disease in foreign countries than domestically, says a former nominee to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS."

Previous Christianity Today articles on AIDS in Africa include:

Bono's American Prayer | The world's biggest rock star tours the heartland, talking more openly about his faith as he recruits Christians in the fight against AIDS in Africa. (Feb. 21, 2003)

Killing a Pandemic | The church may be best equipped to deal HIV/AIDS a crippling blow. (Nov. 18, 2002)

U.S. Blacks Preach Abstinence Gospel | Mission workers testify that Christ helps control sexual urges. (March 27, 2002)

Mercy Impaired | Let's shock the world by reversing our apathy toward African sufferers. (September 27, 2001)

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April 2003, Vol. 47, No. 4