More than 15 seasoned AIDS activists took the news of Tom Coburn's announced appointment as a sign that Bush had removed the compassionate slogan from his conservative agenda.

"This is not a good thing for people with AIDS," said Jeff Getty, spokesman for Survive AIDS. "Anytime you are putting a conservative Republican in charge of a spending program that has to do with diseases, it's a scary thing."

Coburn was named co-chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS along with Louis Sullivan, the former secretary of Health and Human Services under former President Bush.

Fred Dillon is one of many AIDS activists concerned that Coburn was "chosen to be a fierce advocate on positions that will have a negative or little helpful impact on the epidemic."

The former Oklahoma congressman opposes abortion, consistently has challenged the effectiveness of condoms in HIV-prevention campaigns and supports the outing of people infected with HIV.

"My hope is that this advisory council will focus on where there is agreement and not on lightning-rod issues," said Dillon, who is public policy director of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation

Wayne Turner, spokesman for ACT UP Washington, D.C., said Coburn is going to "shake things up, and that's a good thing."

Turner said local AIDS activists are concerned because of Coburn's work with the Ryan White Care Act, which provides $1.8 billion in funding for AIDS programs nationwide.

As co-author of the reauthorization of the act in 2000, Coburn, an obstetrician, led the fight to cut funding to locales like San Francisco, which receive the lion's share of AIDS funding because of the high rates of infection early on in the epidemic, Turner said.

While Turner is at odds with many of Coburn's issues, he said AIDS activists were able to work with him while he was in Congress, and he said Coburn has "responded favorably to activists' concerns."

"We disagree on some issues, but I respect him because I know where he stands," Turner said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Copyright 2002 SF Examiner

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