Commentaries
Turning the Corner Against HIV/AIDS
June 27, 2003
The United States is taking dramatic action to combat a scourge that threatens the social and economic fabric of villages and towns from sub-Saharan Africa to the Caribbean. By signing the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003, President George W. Bush is bringing hope and a package of tools to counter a disease that has already killed more than 20 million people and has infected at least 42 million more.
As President Bush stated when he signed the Act into law, "America makes this commitment for a clear reason, directly rooted in our founding. We believe in the value and dignity of every human life. In the face of preventable death and suffering, we have a moral duty to act, and we are acting."
The President's plan intends to treat two million people infected by HIV, prevent seven million new HIV infections, and provide care and support for ten million people living with HIV/AIDS, including children orphaned by the disease.
The $15 billion package is the latest in a history of humanitarian missions led by the American people. Working with other nations, the U.S. hopes to build partnerships that will make the difference in saving lives.
A coordinated international approach to addressing HIV/AIDS – that involves the private sector as well as governments -- cannot come too soon. HIV/AIDS has killed millions of individuals in these villages and towns - people in their most productive working years. Every year, approximately 2 million HIV-infected women give birth. More than one in three will pass the virus on to her baby. In the hardest-hit countries of sub-Saharan Africa as much as one-third of the adult population is infected with HIV, and 10 percent or more of the schoolteachers will die of AIDS within five years. In several African countries, as many as half of today's 15-year- olds could die of AIDS.
The HIV/AID pandemic threatens the national and economic security of nations. The economic future for many areas in Africa and the Caribbean are compromised not only now but also for generations to come. Scarce resources that could have been spent on meeting basic development goals, such as improving transportation and sanitation, now are increasingly directed to HIV/AIDS management and care for those afflicted by the disease. Development objectives have been set back decades.
The President's initiative targets 14 countries that currently account for nearly 50 percent of global HIV infections and 70 percent of HIV infections in Africa and the Caribbean. This new program is in addition to existing U.S. support of bilateral HIV/AIDS programs in some 50 countries.
Over and above direct funding for HIV treatment, U.S. government agencies, private U.S. research and scientific institutions, and pharmaceutical companies are also expending huge resources in the development of an AIDS vaccine and in trying to better understand and manage this disease.
As President Bush has said, "the fight against AIDS is difficult but not hopeless. We know how to prevent AIDS, and we know how to treat it." The suffering of many is great. However, through serious international cooperation and partnership between those nations suffering with this scourge and those with resources to help in the war against this disease, the world can turn the corner against HIV/AIDS.
Frank Lavin
U.S. Ambassador
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