Posted on 06/19/2002 6:16:56 AM PDT by Teacher317
Bush to Propose $500M AIDS Funding
Wed Jun 19, 4:07 AM ET
By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush ( news - web sites) is calling for an extra $500 million in U.S. funding to keep mothers in parts of Africa and the Caribbean from passing the AIDS ( news - web sites) virus to their babies.
That figure falls far short, however, of what most say is needed to battle the global epidemic.
Bush was unveiling his proposal for the increased spending, mostly for anti-AIDS medications to be administered during pregnancy, in a Rose Garden ceremony Wednesday morning. Parts of the proposal already are pending in Congress.
Two million women infected with HIV ( news - web sites) become pregnant each year around the world, most of them in poor countries. Between one-quarter and one-third transmit the disease to their newborns either during labor or while breast-feeding. That translates into 2,000 new AIDS-infected infants each day — a statistic that alarms public health officials and cripples the countries' ability to develop their economies, a senior White House official said.
More than 8,000 people around the world die of AIDS each day.
The right medication regimen has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of HIV-positive pregnant women passing on the virus to their children.
Bush's announcement is part of a White House strategy to project a compassionate image for the United States ahead of a summit next week in Canada, another senior Bush adviser said. The aim is to soften criticism that America doesn't spend enough helping poor countries, the adviser said.
A chief focus of the Group of Eight meeting — including the leaders of the world's seven largest industrial powers and Russia — will be a new development plan for Africa.
The money Bush is proposing is designed only to address mother-to-child transmission in eight African countries and the Caribbean. Eventually, the program would expand to include a dozen countries in Africa, officials said.
Included on the target list is South Africa, which has the highest rate of HIV infection in the world. The government there had until recently been widely criticized for government policies that did not do enough to provide access to lifesaving treatment.
Anticipating such an announcement from the president, Senate Republicans recently scaled back the amount of money they were seeking to fight AIDS abroad in an anti-terrorism bill. After lobbying from the White House, the final Senate bill included $200 million in anti-AIDS spending instead of $500 million.
Bush has already requested nearly $900 million for the worldwide AIDS fight for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. This year's total is more than $750 million, not including the $200 million in the anti-terror bill.
The president's proposal would include the $200 million, which, if approved, would be spent this year. The remaining $300 million would be spent "over the next few years," a Bush official said. All of it would be targeted to preventing mothers from passing the disease on to their babies.
Some Democrats had criticized the move in the Senate to cut AIDS funding because of the president's intentions. With the $500 million already a fraction of what is needed, they say, spreading it over too long a period would leave the United States with a too-small role in what activists hope will be a major international effort to combat AIDS.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan ( news - web sites) has called for $10 billion annually to reverse the AIDS epidemic by 2015.
The House version of the counterterrorism bill also contains $200 million to fight AIDS. House and Senate bargainers are hoping to craft a compromise between their two measures by next week.
Medical Aid to the Third World cannot be justified on those premises. Play all the word games you like, there is no equivalence. It is Charity, pure and simple. And Uncle Sam has no role as a patron of foreign charities--no legal role that is.
The first principle of honorable Government must be integrity; integrity to the duties imposed, not to those one wishes might be imposed. What President Bush is advocating here, cannot be morally justified.
If you want to fight AIDS in the Third World, by all means do so. But not with the tax receipts from the American people; and certainly not from funds borrowed on their credit.
William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site
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