![](https://media.icij.org/uploads/2006/11/divineintervention.jpeg)
![](https://media.icij.org/uploads/2006/11/630abstinencebillboard.jpg)
An ICIJ Investigation
Divine Intervention
U.S. AIDS Policy Abroad
Conservative policy hinders U.S. initiatives to fight AIDS abroad by insisting on abstinence-only programs over promoting condom use.
![](https://media.icij.org/uploads/2006/11/divineintervention.jpeg)
Divine Intervention
PEPFAR policy hinders treatment in generic terms
By M. Asif Ismail
December 13, 2006
- A year-long investigation of President Bush’s initiative to fight AIDS abroad finds that conservative ideology hinders its real benefits by insisting on abstinence-only programs over promoting condom use.
- In 2003, President George W. Bush asked Congress to appropriate $15 billion for an international AIDS initiative, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) — a plan that, while seeking to treat those infected with HIV/AIDS and prevent the spread of the disease, is hindered by conservative ideologies.
- ICIJ found that PEPFAR actually restricts the use of funds because of its ties to faith-based organizations that promote abstinence-only programs and overlook the importance of other courses of action such as condom use.
Divine Intervention
![A man is showered in holy water as Atnafu Betseha, an Orthodox priest, imposes a large iron cross on him](https://media.icij.org/uploads/2017/10/betseha.jpg)
Nov 30, 2006
‘Holy water cures even HIV’
Divine Intervention
![Twenty-year old Michot Sebresilassei takes the antiretroviral drugs she gets through PEPFAR at the local hospital](https://media.icij.org/uploads/2017/10/michot.jpg)
Nov 30, 2006
‘I was raped by soldiers. The holy water and the drugs will cure me’
Divine Intervention
![Ethalem Bekele (left) is a volunteer in a program run by Pathfinder and funded by U](https://media.icij.org/uploads/2017/10/pathfinder.jpg)
Nov 30, 2006
‘Telling people to be abstinent is like telling somebody to put his hands in the fire’
DEFORESTATION INC
![](https://media.icij.org/uploads/2024/12/kuro-yacht-bezos-shutterstock_2288624051.jpg)
Dec 02, 2024
Dutch yacht maker that built Jeff Bezos’ $500 million superyacht fined for Myanmar teak usage
IMPACT
![](https://media.icij.org/uploads/2024/11/Isabel_dos_Santos_GettyImages-1232471909.jpg)