The White House Council of Economic Advisors last week published the 2005 Economic Report of the President, a 300 page tome discussing the principal economic challenges facing the US. Chapter 7 (of eight chapters) is dedicated exclusively to global HIV / AIDS. It provides a concise portrait of the global epidemic, its economic consequences, and strategies towards prevention and care. While it breaks little new ground, the Report does emphasize new market approaches to encouraging vaccine development, an idea that is receiving increased attention.

Kudos to the British charity Avert for providing excellent information resouces on global HIV/AIDS. While the web site covers many topics that are well-discussed elsewhere online, it also includes informative sections on US Government programs that are not well-presented on other sites. The PEPFAR page is more detailed than anything provided by PEPFAR itself; it even includes reference to the SCMS program (remember that -- the world's largest AIDS program nobody has ever heard of?). The PEPFAR page also includes an excellent bibliography at the end.

If one searches on "SCMS" on the USAID web site, there are zero citations. Thanks to Avert for helping fill the gaps.