Bush Asks for $15 Billion to Fight AIDS in Africa (It's unprecedented and will save lives)

reuters ^ | 1/28/2003 | Maggie Fox

[TLBSHOW]

Bush Asks for $15 Billion to Fight AIDS in Africa

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush, under fire from AIDS groups for what they call his neglect of the epidemic, asked Congress Tuesday to triple AIDS spending in Africa and Haiti to $15 billion over five years.

The announcement, made in his annual State of the Union Address, took AIDS campaigners by surprise, but they quickly both welcomed the plan and expressed skepticism about it.

"I ask the Congress to commit $15 billion over the next five years, including nearly $10 billion in new money, to turn the tide against AIDS in the most afflicted nations of Africa and the Caribbean," Bush said.

"This comprehensive plan will prevent 7 million new AIDS infections, treat at least 2 million people with life-extending drugs and provide humane care for millions of people suffering from AIDS and for children orphaned by AIDS," Bush added.

On its Internet web site at http://www.whitehouse.gov, the White House said the plan would target Botswana, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Guyana, Haiti, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

It said the plan calls for the United States to work with private groups and governments to "put in place a comprehensive plan for diagnosing, preventing and treating AIDS."

Stephen Lewis, the United Nations special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, welcomed what he called "the first dramatic signal from the U.S. administration that it is now ready to confront the pandemic and to save or prolong millions of lives."

"It opens the floodgates of hope. Most importantly, it issues a challenge to every other member of the G7 to follow suit," he said in South Africa after a tour of the region.

The Physicians for Human Rights, which campaigns on a range of issues from land mines to HIV, last week urged Bush to increase global AIDS spending to $3.5 billion a year.

"This is totally unexpected," John Heffernan, a spokesman for the group, said in a telephone interview. "We applaud it. It really is an extraordinary commitment that clearly shows that the United States is serious about combating AIDS."

The Global AIDS Alliance welcomed the news but worried that the Bush administration could be competing with existing AIDS funds, such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The United States has been accused of not putting its fair share into the Fund.

"In the (White House) fact sheet it said only $1 billion of the 10 billion in new money will go to the Global Fund," said Dr. Paul Zeitz, Executive Director of the Global AIDS Alliance. "We are very concerned that will leave the fund vastly underfunded and undermine its success."

A SLOW START?

Zeitz also said it looked like the program would start out slowly, with just $2 billion allocated for next year.

The International Association for Physicians in AIDS Care said it would closely watch what would be done with the money, if Congress approved it. "The devil is in the details," said Scott Wolfe, a spokesman for the group. But he also strongly welcomed the move, adding, "We call on other global leaders to step up and demonstrate similar commitments."

More than 36 million people are infected with the virus that causes AIDS -- 25 million in Africa alone. The United Nations predicts AIDS will kill 70 million people in the next 20 years unless rich nations step up efforts.

Bush noted this. "There are whole countries in Africa where more than one-third of the adult population carries the infection," he said. "More than 4 million require immediate drug treatment. Yet across that continent, only 50,000 AIDS victims -- only 50,000 -- are receiving the medicine they need."

There is no cure for AIDS but a cocktail of expensive drugs known as anti-retrovirals can keep disease at bay. Campaigners have been angered that such drugs are available in rich nations but not to the countries hardest hit by the epidemic.

"AIDS can be prevented," Bush said. "Anti-retroviral drugs can extend life for many years. And the cost of those drugs has dropped from $12,000 a year to under $300 a year, which places a tremendous possibility within our grasp."

The new Senate majority leader, Tennessee Republican Bill Frist, nodded and smiled as Bush spoke. Frist, a medical doctor, does frequent volunteer work in Africa.

"It's unprecedented. It is huge. And of everything he said tonight, it has the capacity to save more lives in this country I would say, but also globally, than anything else said," Frist told CNN.

[tpaine]

That statement is quite laughable given its context. A decent human being would teach these people: how to appreciate and fight for their own freedom, how to support themselves, and how to educate women from spreading their legs/having children they cannot support/and getting AIDS in the first place.
If, we are to be decent human beings...we should do that. The problem is, thats not happening. The governemnt is stealing yours and my money to throw money and expensinve drugs at the problem in order to save a few lives and give good face to the center-left. The root of the problem will continue and opportunities will be there for other politicians to show how nice they are by throwing yours and my money at the problem in the future too. How verrrrrrrrrry decent.
234 posted on 01/29/2003 12:01 PM PST by BureaucratusMaximus


--- "So, you're OK, and to heck with the rest of the world, eh? How nice. Got any kids? What about them? AIDS does not respect race, sex, or anything else. It's there, and it's deadly. You're OK, but what about your kids, your friends, your neighbors? Feh!"
-MMan-

'So', --- can you refute #234 with any logic? -- I'd bet a lot that you won't even try...
265 tpaine



"That statement is quite laughable given its context. A decent human being would teach these people: how to appreciate and fight for their own freedom, how to support themselves, and how to educate women from spreading their legs/having children they cannot support/and getting AIDS in the first place."
-- BMax says - IN PART -

That's true, and it's just what Bush proposed. He said first that _preventing_ AIDS was the goal. Treatment of existing sufferers was second on the list. Education is the only way to prevent it, so you can expect that to be the principal thrust.
273 -MMan-

Yep, just as I predicted, you don't even try a logical rebuttal of the whole statement, you pretend that the latter portion doesn't exist, and ignore that our government is acting unconstitutionaly in funding such programs.
--- "FEH!", indeed --

[Joe Hadenuf]

All I can say is, at this rate, we’ll morhp into Liberals after another trillion dollars or so. What a deal.

If Clinton did this, the outrage would be deafening......

[VMI70]

You jogged my feeble mind about something else: the use of the term "victim" to describe the rump rangers.
The poor folks who got it unknowingly or accidentally like from tainted blood are real "victims", but I can't think of anyone else with aids that could be described using that term.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Damn... another good idea gone right out the window... dang it... ;0)

[Semaphore Heathcliffe]

...the most right-wing, beer-guzzling, wife-beater-shirt-wearing, politically incorrect "conservative"...

Is this your impression of people who are opposed to the spending discussed on this thread?

[MineralMan]

"Yep, just as I predicted, you don't even try a logical rebuttal of the whole statement, you pretend that the latter portion doesn't exist, and ignore that our government is acting unconstitutionaly in funding such programs.
"

Sorry, but foreign aid is not unconstitutional in any way. We've been doing it for a long, long time. Once the Congress appropriates the funds for such expenditures, they're perfectly constitutional. Find me a place in the Constitution which prohibits the US from appropriating funds for foreign aid. I didn't address this because it doesn't warrant addressing.

[tpaine]

"I'm more conservative that you, and I can pee farther, too...' yawn.

Pretending that the posts here that show up your liberal views, - are 'peeing contests', - is a feeble ploy, my boy.
So is yawning as your government sends tax money to africa against all constitutional restrictions. --- Dream on with your fantasy that our government is a socialist republic.
271 tpaine

I don't want to speak for him, but I'm really thinking Chad is not your "boy".

Sure 'mom', whatever you say about ~your~ boy is fine with me, -- to a degree.

Anyone who knows Chad at all - and that apparently does not include you - knows he is no liberal.

Then tell him to clean up his 'line', --- because it parrots the socialist one, dead on.

And don't even try to deny that there are urinating contests here day in and day out to see who is the most right-wing, beer-guzzling, wife-beater-shirt-wearing, politically incorrect "conservative" in this forum. You're one of the prettiest contestants.

Thanks dear, I bet you're pretty 'cute' yourself, dispite the short hair.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Like I said, before you chimed in as your usual crotchety old self, I gave up on the idea of supporting bush's plan to educate the people of Africa about AIDS. It's not our problem.

I'm sure Saudi Arabia will be more than happy to do it for us...

[tpaine]

"Yep, just as I predicted, you don't even try a logical rebuttal of the whole statement, you pretend that the latter portion doesn't exist, and ignore that our government is acting unconstitutionaly in funding such programs.

" Sorry, but foreign aid is not unconstitutional in any way. We've been doing it for a long, long time. Once the Congress appropriates the funds for such expenditures, they're perfectly constitutional. Find me a place in the Constitution which prohibits the US from appropriating funds for foreign aid.

Sorry, I couldn't find ANY reference to foreign aid in a quick search. Where do you find such 'aid' authorised?

I didn't address this because it doesn't warrant addressing.

A likely story.

[tpaine]

Thank you chad, my boy.
Now, -- if you could just get 'mom' off my case, - I'll agree that there is some hope for leading you to true conservatism.

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

right-wing, beer-guzzling, wife-beater-shirt-wearing, politically incorrect "conservative"

I guess that snapshot of "t" (dreadful as it is) has made its way around the block a few times, huh?

[Chad Fairbanks]

Ya know, YOU may think it's funny to make 'mom' jokes to a man who's mother recently passed away, but I don't...

[tpaine]

"I guess that snapshot of "t" (dreadful as it is) has made its way around the block a few times, huh?"


You think you jest, but a real weirdo Anti-Freek stalker ['landshark'] once claimed to have been at my house and snapped some shots of just that.

He couldn't publish of course, because in actuality, I'm a dead ringer for Bond, - James Bond.

[Sir Gawain]

I don't even see anyone talking about the Constitutionality of this giveaway. I guess even the most diehard Bush supporters will no longer defend the indefensible. "The Constitution is an old document. While quaint, it's not a document that is meant to be followed in these times." I've heard the same said about the Bible. If you can't disagree with it because it's right there in black and white, just say it doesn't apply.

[tpaine]

Ya know, YOU may think it's funny to make 'mom' jokes to a man who's mother recently passed away, but I don't...


How weird. Why would you assume I was aware of any thing like that?
--- Am I supposed to do personal profiles before posting?

[Chad Fairbanks]

Well, it's not like she DID pass away or anything, but wouldn't you have looked like an ass if she had?

(Smile, man - you be actin all grumpy and stuff)

;0)

[snopercod]

And where in the US Constitution is the federal government authorized to spend money on this?

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

You think you jest, but a real weirdo Anti-Freek stalker ['landshark'] once claimed to have been at my house and snapped some shots of just that.

He couldn't publish of course, because in actuality, I'm a dead ringer for Bond, - James Bond.

Bwahahahahaha !!!!!! OMGosh....... It took a few minutes to stop laughing before I could respond.

Get help and get it soon.

[tpaine]

--- "Bwahahahahaha !!!!!!" ----

Hmmmm, - 'Sharkey' had that same way of writing down his manical laughter.
Been stalking much lately 'pawsis'?

[snopercod]

It is not within the powers granted to the federal government by "we, the people" to spend our money on programs like this, no matter how magnanimous and politically-correct (e.g. vote-enhancing).

Private philanthropists are welcome to attempt a solution, however.

Certainly as a Phi Beta Kappa, you understand the concept of constitutionally-limited government.