President George Bush called on the US Congress Wednesday to provide 30 billion US dollar (165 milliarder DKR) toward battling the global AIDS crisis over the first five years after he leaves office, a doubling of the current US commitment.
The increase in the Presidents Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) would provide lifesaving treatment to 2,5 million people, administration officials said – about 1,4 million more than the program now serves.
The programs original five-year mandate, which provided for 15 billion dollar in US funding, will expire in September 2008. Bushs plan would extend that five more years.
First lady Laura Bush is also expected to travel to Africa in late June and visit AIDS-related services funded by the program in Zambia, Mali, Mozambique and Senegal.
Bushs announcement comes in a week when he is highlighting his administrations commitment to international development and human rights protections – both of which will be major items for discussion next week when he joins other world leaders at a Group of Eight summit meeting in Germany.
Bush announced new economic sanctions on Sudan Tuesday, and nominated veteran diplomat Robert B. Zoellick Wednesday as president of the World Bank.
AIDS advocates hailed word of the presidents plans.
– We think a doubling is definitely in order, said Paul Zeitz, executive director of the Washington-based Global AIDS Alliance, adding:
– I would call it bold action. Is it enough? No. Do we have to have better policies? Yes. But PEPFAR is still a breakthrough and has had a significant impact.
Globally, about 40 million people suffer from HIV/AIDS, a number that has been increasing fast despite growing prevention efforts.
Bush announced the program, the largest foreign-aid effort directed at a single disease in US history, in his 2003 State of the Union address. Through last September, it was paying for anti-retroviral treatment for 822.000 people in the “target countries” – 12 African nations, plus Guyana, Haiti and Vietnam.
The program also pays for drugs for 165.000 people elsewhere in the developing world, and it has provided short courses of medicine to more than 500.000 pregnant women – a strategy that has prevented about 100.000 infections to newborns, program officials say.
Kilde: The Push Journal
