Date: Wed, 23 Nov 1994 12:45:00 -0500 From: David B. O'Donnell To: Multiple recipients of list GLB-NEWS Subject: Interview with Patsy Fleming [ Send all responses to stegen@UCSSUN1.SDSU.EDU only. Any responses to the list or list-owners will be returned to you. ] New AIDS Policy Chief Offers More Rhetoric Than Response By Petr Pronsati Editor The appointment of Patsy Fleming as the director of the National AIDS Policy Office has met with mixed reaction from the AIDS community. While AIDS Action Council publicly applauded the November 10 announcement by President Clinton, ACT UP Washington denounced the appointment as being equivalent to appointing no one. In a phone interview with Update on Friday, Fleming responded with her thoughts on the office. In the brief but telling interview, Fleming stuck mostly to rhetoric. She offered very little new insight as to how she would tackle a job that no one, including her for a long time, wanted. She stated that her most important job as director would be "to help get the best possible funding for AIDS programs in the President's fiscal year 1995 budget request." Earlier in the conversation, however, she said that her main priority would be women. "Women are not empowered to protect themselves," she said. "They often must depend on [their partners] for protection." To that end, she has appointed Penny Hitchcock to research the development of a vaginal microbiside that does not depend on a male condom. After investigating the issue with the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), she lobbied and had the funding for that research doubled. According to Fleming, Hitchcock said that "things are moving along nicely," and they have received a number of promising applications for grants to study the issue. On more controversial topics, such as teens and HIV however, Fleming seemed to talk around the issues. As she has said publicly before, her advice to teens is "to delay having sex as long as possible." Where abstinence is not realistic, she said that condoms should be available to all teens. She would not go so far as to advise safe sex education in schools. She said, "It's important to remember that those decisions are local, and federal government does not play a role." When asked where these children might get condoms if not in school, she replied vaguely, "Condoms should be made available where the kids are." She sidestepped further questions about urging local school boards to allow safe sex education and condom distribution. Fleming offered the same type of generic response to questioning about funding for alternative theories (those that contradict the current HIV = AIDS theory) and therapies. She replied, "My plan is to work closely with Dr. William Pearl [director of AIDS research at NIH] to follow every promising lead to curing this disease." On the subject of holistic remedies, she said that she would like all leads to be tested clinically. Daniel Bross, executive director of AIDS Action Council, has publicly supported the appointment. "Since her appointment three months ago as [interim director], Fleming has reshaped the office, focused and streamlined its functions, and clarified its mission," he said. Not so, says Steve Michael, of ACT UP Washington. He claims that any changes made to the office have been strictly "cosmetic." "The AIDS czar needs to be able to direct and implement sound AIDS policy across government departments and agencies, from Defense to Interior, the INS and HHS [Health and Human Services]," he said in ACT UP's official statement. "Fleming simply does not have the authority." ACT UP had pushed for, and Clinton had hoped for, a high profile director. Names that were mentioned were Lowell Weicker, governor of Connecticut; former senator Dan Evans; Maxine Waters, California congresswoman; and Cynthia McKinney, congresswoman from Georgia. While no details have been revealed, it is rumored that Clinton could not find anyone with high-profile status to take the job. In fact, it was only recently that Fleming was talked into taking the job permanently. When she was appointed interim director, she was clear that she was not interested in being considered for the permanent position. Fleming spent the last two decades working on health and social policy for members of Congress, and in the Carter and Clinton administrations. More recently, she was an advisor to Donna Shalala, HHS secretary. There, she was responsible for coordinating and directing HIV/AIDS policy throughout the HHS. Even though most of Fleming's work has come with the Democratic party, she does not foresee a problem working with a Republican-controlled House and Senate. She has said that "AIDS is a bipartisan disease." Noting that again on Friday, she continued, "I will meet with as many leading Republican and Democratic members of Congress and tell them about the epidemic." She went on to say that when the Senate was Republican under Reagan, "We saw a great increase in funding over what the President asked for [in the budget]." It remains to be seen whether this director will fair any better than Kristine Gebbie, who was forced to resign in June, under pressure from AIDS activists angry with the lack of power given to the office and to her. The position still has not been upgraded to the cabinet-level position that activists have lobbied for and that they say Clinton promised during his campaign. For her part, Fleming thinks that the office does have power now. In response to Michael's charge that the only changes have been cosmetic, she said, "I don't know what he is referring to. The President has said that I have direct access to him. I have talked to him a number of times." Then, just before hanging up, she concluded, "Stay tuned. You'll see what happens." -- //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // Joel Stegen // // // stegen@ucssun1.sdsu.edu // "Wherever you go....there you are." // // (619)285-1290 // -Buckaroo Bonsai // ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////