The Washington
Post on Friday profiled Randall Tobias, head of the new State
Department Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator. Tobias, who previously
served as chair and CEO of pharmaceutical company Eli
Lilly before retiring, is a "newcomer" to the issue of HIV/AIDS, which
initially made his appointment "controversial," the Post reports.
"To trust this position -- with so many lives at stake -- to someone with
no public health experience is astonishing," Global
AIDS Alliance Director Paul Zeitz said. Tobias has countered criticisms
saying that what is needed is "an imaginative new strategy for integrating
prevention, delivery of treatment and care." Since his confirmation in
October 2003, he has approached the AIDS epidemic "much as he did his business,"
the Post reports. Some people who were initially critical of his
appointment say that he should be given the "benefit of the doubt for now,"
according to the Post. "I understand people's concerns, but I also
know business as usual is not going to get the job done," Sandra Thurman,
president of the International
AIDS Trust and director of the Clinton administration's national AIDS
policy, said, adding, "I'm hopeful that he will be able to get these antiquated
systems and bureaucratically choked agencies off their duffs and get the
job done." Tobias has also received support from CDC
Director Julie Gerberding, who last year traveled to Africa with Tobias.
Gerberding said that because the primary challenge for AIDS drug distribution
in Africa is the lack of infrastructure, "you need someone with a CEO mentality
but also someone who can connect with people on a personal basis," adding
that Tobias is the "right man for the job without question" (Wright, Washington
Post, 2/13).
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