Duke Global Health Institute Director Mike Merson joined national leaders to offer commentary on the legacy of George Bush in the February 2009 issue of Vanity Fair magazine. “An Oral History of the Bush White House” by Cullen Murphy and Todd S. Purdum chronicles the major events that transpired during Bush’s two terms as President. Merson, who participated in the evaluation of President Bush’s PEPFAR program (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), comments:
Michael Merson, M.D., international AIDS researcher, who has evaluated the relief program: Look, PEPFAR is the largest commitment ever made by any nation for a global health activity that’s dedicated to a single disease. I mean, that’s just not disputable. It has a prevention component, a treatment component, and a care component, but treatment is the centerpiece. The last number I’ve seen is that this initiative has led to treatment of more than 1.7 million people, most of them in Africa. Now, that’s not all the people who need treatment, but it’s a huge amount. PEPFAR at least tripled our aid flow to Africa—I’m talking about total aid flow.
