President George W. Bush speaks Thursday, December 1 in Washington joining the international recognition of World AIDS Day. U.S. assistance to the world's most AIDS-afflicted nations includes life-saving medicines for approximately 400,000 people, eight times the number receiving treatment two years ago, Bush says. | |
|
|
Washington –
President George Bush joined the international recognition
of World AIDS Day December 1 with an announcement of successes
and new initiatives in the U.S. contribution to the global
struggle against the epidemic.
U.S. efforts to increase assistance to the
world’s most AIDS-afflicted nations are now delivering
life-saving medicines to approximately 400,000 people, eight
times the number receiving treatment three years ago, Bush
said.
In 2003 the United States launched the President’s
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), making a five-year,
$15 billion commitment to scale up AIDS treatment, prevention
and care.
The president made this announcement with
Thandazile Darby and her two children seated behind him.
They are South Africans with HIV who are now receiving treatment
under PEPFAR.
“Thandazile's late husband's relatives
tried to support her treatment for as long as they could,
but the cost was too high,” Bush said. “Thanks
to the Emergency Plan funds, the Darbys began to get the
treatment they desperately needed. Soon these children will
start school -- and now their mom dreams that someday they
will attend college.”
Joined by first lady Laura Bush, many members
of his Cabinet and members of Congress in a White House
ceremony, the president announced a new component of PEPFAR
called the New Partners Initiative to promote greater U.S.
partnership with faith-based and community-based organizations
as they work to treat and support HIV-infected persons,
and prevent further transmission of the disease.
“We will further reach out to our
faith-based and community organizations that provide much
of the health care in the developing world and make sure
they have access to American assistance,” Bush said.
“By identifying and supporting these organizations,
we will reach more people, more effectively and save more
lives.”
A Ugandan physician who has been a U.S.
partner in scaling up AIDS treatment also participated in
the World AIDS Day event. President Bush introduced Dr.
Peter Mujenyi, who has received U.S. support to open clinics
for treatment of AIDS patients.
“Today there are 35 sites, many of
them in remote rural areas that provide treatment to 35,000
of his countrymen,” said Bush. The president praised
Dr. Mujenyi for his leadership and his compassion in combating
the disease, and extended that admiration to all the medical
workers and community activists in the 15 countries that
receive special focus under PEPFAR as home to approximately
half of the 40 million people living with HIV.
On World AIDS Day, Bush said the United
States renews its commitment to confront the global health
crisis of AIDS and “turn the tide” on the epidemic.
The transcript
of the president’s remarks is available on the
White House Web site.
The National Institutes of Health, the agency
leading the U.S. research effort on treatments and vaccines,
issued a World
AIDS Day statement on the progress in this mission.
In addition, the U.S. Agency for International
Development, an important partner in enacting PEPFAR programs,
issued a summary
of its progress in fighting the pandemic.
Additional
information about World AIDS Day is available on the
World AIDS Campaign Web site.
For more information, see HIV/AIDS.
Charlene Porter
Washington File Staff Writer
###
