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.
You are so correct in terming this a type of worship. The sainthood given to the participants, their behavior and the ensuing disease defies all logic.
You said a mouthful. Ok Bush worshippers, what excuse do you have for this one?
Of course a nice Christian like yourself is just full of compassion and would gladly serve others in their time of need......
Isn't that the Christian credo...."let the darkies drop dead"...
Is this money going to cure them? Millions of children infected? How? Are there that many hemopeliacs in Africa? No they are being raped. You think your going to stop rape with $500 million? You honestly think that if you throw money at a morality problem it gets fixed? Why doesn't it work here?
I'd rather be a jerk then a complete and total dimwit that thinks money is going to fix a morality problem! Why don't you go over there and volenteer to put the rubbers on all the men wanting sex! What an idiot!
If you want to raise money for the relief of medical problems in other lands, as a form of Christian Charity, no one will oppose you. But to unilaterally appropriate public money to that effort is something very different.
William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site
You're chasing your tail.
I've gone too far? Someone whos been busted for dope 8 times is going to lecture me?
Sorry but maybe when your sucking on your bong enlighting yourself in an a Bob Marley haze and thinking about anal sex, you can tell me about its morality. Then you can tell me how $500 million is going to stop AIDs, or rape, or intervenious drug use. Still think its got nothing to do with morality?
They call it dope for a reason. Conservative, stoned and stupid is no way to live son!
talk to me when you come down to the planet earth.
Yeah please tell me what its like on your planet when your in your "hallucinating hemp haze" escaping from the truth & reality of this world! We live in parallel worlds on the same planet. Mine of clarity, yours of drugs! Lecture someone else bong boy!
Yeah please tell me what its like on your planet when your in your "hallucinating hemp haze" escaping from the truth & reality of this world! We live in parallel worlds on the same planet. Mine of clarity, yours of drugs! Lecture someone else bong boy!
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