With the worldwide focus lately on SARS, President Bush is urging the U.S. Congress not to forget about the fight against AIDS—he’s pressing lawmakers to approve his request for more U.S. aid to fight AIDS. Carol Pearson reports.
President Bush is calling for swift action from Congress in approving the 15 billion dollar emergency plan for AIDS relief in a number of African countries and the Caribbean.
He cited the threat AIDS and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, present not just to AIDS sufferers but to the stability of countries and entire regions of the world.
GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. PRESIDENT
“Our nations have the ability and therefore the duty to confront this grave public health crisis.”
President Bush first proposed the initiative in January. Congress has, so far, not been able to agree on a bipartisan prevention plan. The President made it clear he wants the focus on sexual abstinence, marital fidelity and condom use, modeled after a successful program in Uganda to reduce the number of new AIDS cases.
More than 25 million people have died from AIDS and that number could rise to 80 million by 2010.
President Bush says his initiative would prevent seven million new HIV infections and treat at least 2 million people in the next decade.