In the spirit of back-to-school week, here is a quick RH pop quiz:

Question: Which country just announced a five-year, $2.5 billion campaign against HIV/AIDS?

Answer: India, the second-most populous country.

Question: What is the focus of that campaign?

Answer: Prevention. Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss announced that 80% of a new national campaign will focus on condoms as the best defense against HIV/AIDS. This is especially significant for the country with more HIV-positive people than any other country.

Question: How does this compare to HIV prevention strategy in the United States?

Answer: Well, let's see… India is allocating 2.2 percent of the total budget for their country to a scientifically-proven prevention strategy. They plan to install condom vending machines in colleges, railway stations, gas stations, hospitals, and roadside eateries. They also plan to almost double the number of centers that provide counseling, testing, treatment, and prenatal checkups.

Compare that strategy with the U.S. approach. According to the most recent data on U.S. federal funding for HIV/AIDS from the Kaiser Foundation (for Fiscal Year 2002), the United States only spends 0.7% of our total budget on HIV/AIDS. And only an estimated 6.3% of the total federal HIV/AIDS spending is on prevention programs (while 5.5% is spent on international programs and 70.4% on care & assistance). And despite the repeated confirmations that condoms are effective, the U.S. continues to focus its prevention efforts on abstinence-only programs. The government is a major buyer of condoms, though they can't seem to distribute them effectively… and still they continue to insist on abstinence-only programs in order for international groups to receive funding for reproductive health.

Question: Which country do you think gets a better grade in the fight against HIV/AIDS?

Look for more analysis of the United States' HIV prevention strategy when Rewire reports on this afternoon's House Government Reform Committee hearing as they examine PEPFAR.