Posted on 01/29/2003 4:45:54 PM PST by TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!
The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, today welcomed the announcement by United States President George W. Bush of a total of $15 billion in funding to help in the global fight against HIV/AIDS.
Referring to Mr. Bush's pledge, made last night in his State of the Union address, the Secretary-General congratulated the US President on his promise to provide stronger US leadership in combating the devastating impact of the global AIDS epidemic.
"An additional $10 billion - making a total of $15 billion over the next five years, with a new emphasis on access to life-saving treatment and care for millions of people - will make a vital impact, not only in saving lives but also in staving off the very real threat to stability that AIDS represents in the worst affected regions," the Secretary-General said in a statement released in New York.
Mr. Annan also expressed appreciation that $1 billion will initially to go to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which he described as a "key instrument for the international community in giving strategic direction to the global struggle against HIV/AIDS."
The Secretary-General stressed that while experiences on every continent have shown it possible to prevent infection and treat and care for those infected, too often the lack of resources has prevented projects from growing into the full-scale national strategies required for success.
"President Bush has confirmed his belief that AIDS can be defeated," Mr. Annan said. "I hope the US Congress will accept the President's challenge and ensure that the needed funding is made available as quickly as possible, in keeping with the urgency of this crisis. And I hope that this example will encourage other governments to follow suit."
Echoing that theme was Stephen Lewis, the Secretary-General Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, who said that Mr. Bush's announcement challenges every other member of the Group of Seven most industrialized nations - the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Italy and Canada - to follow suit before its next summit in June in France.
"Between now and then, every single member must announce its contribution to the struggle against AIDS overall, and to the Global Fund in particular," he said. "The summit itself should initiate the most far-reaching, imaginative plan of action to confront this communicable scourge that the world has ever seen."
Mr. Lewis also warned that imminent war in Iraq could overshadow any efforts to fight the scourge. "And with the best will in the world, wars have a way of distorting, however unintentionally, every intended human priority," he said. "Wars have their own dynamic, in the wake of which hopes can be strangled and dreams can be suffocated.
"We cannot allow HIV/AIDS to become collateral damage."
True, but promiscuous homosexual sex and sharing needles is the reason why AIDS is a global epidemic.
And others were complaining about the African govts wasting the money....which of course is also wrong.
I was addressing the numerous posts which only expressed contempt for the millions dying from AIDS and Bush for making the US #1 in trying to save lives.
Wrong. The AIDS epidemic is greatest in areas of the world like Africa where HETEROSEXUALS are spreading it.
That you took my post in this way says alot. You mistook my monopoly money statement as literal.
How about this, you send them your paycheck for as long as you want to, and leave mine alone.
Whose them? the federal gov? The U.N.?
Like I can do this. This was my very point in my so called rant that does not impress you- There is nothing we can do like it or not. You stop the monies from flowing to Africa-have at it.
If we have the evidence that President Bush says we have, then we can go it alone and eliminate Saddam, no problem. And we can keep the $15,000,000,000 that we need here.
If we go at it alone, we will lose even more money and carry the entire cost burden ourselves. Do you know how much it costs to keep a carrier muchless fleet or two readied at sea? NATO would even veto us going alone. We, like it or not, cannot do as we please. NATO commands our fleets over the commander-in-chief. The dems would have a hey day with this, but you don't seem to understand.
You don't have a clue what you are talking about. NATO doesn't do squat. We do not depend on them, or the UN. They depend on us. Period.
Pull your head out of your butt and get a whiff of fresh air. Maybe you will learn something.
I want a U.N. report on why the United Nations/ United Way money never reached the grieving, WTC towers families. Do you not watch Fox News/ The O Reilly Factor?
If all the monies were truly given that the U.N. collected in Unicef boxes at halloween in the states over 30 years ago, I think Ethiopia would not be still full of starvation.
If I won the lottery I would give to Saint Judes hospital-where i know the kids are truly helped.
And I suppose AIDS first showing up in San Francisco as the gay cancer was just an anomaly. Of course, most of the promiscuous homosexuals and drug users have died of AIDS, so their share of being the vectors isn't as great as it once was.
Whenever my local liberal rag prints a story about a new STD breakout, it's always in the gay club scene.
Also explain why we are awaiting the United Nations permission to utilize our military in action in Iraq.
Not everyone has AIDS, and it's not the people they want, it's the resources. They'll just kill those they can't convert anyway.
See post 6 and 13 it was a fecetious comment that I took all the way to the bank in monopoly money humor. Sorry if you don't get it.
You called me ignorant. You are sad. I am hoping when you typed NATO to search to see what it stands for you will read the web page (just a little) to see how ignorant you are.
Uh, in case you haven't noticed it's not the terrorist states we're interested in saving. Most of Africa is either Christian or animists.
More name calling...whatever.
See posts 6 and 8. And maybe further posts dunno.
How does it matter whether the takeover targets are sane Islamics or some other religion? According to Patty Murrayism the sane Islamic states didn't become terrorists until Bin Laden beat us to the compassionate spending.
Absolutely disgusting.
I agree. If Clinton had came up with this colossal waste of money giveaway, the outrage would be deafening....
This is a very prescient President who is looking at possible threats and allies in the century ahead.
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