President Speaks on Fighting Global and Domestic HIV/AIDS
Remarks by the President on Global and Domestic Hiv/Aids
Room 450
The Dwight E. Eisenhower Executive Office Building
11:31 A.M.EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. I'm honored you all are
here. I'm so grateful that many from the diplomatic corps are here.
This is an historic year for America. It's a year of great
consequence. It's a year in which we have an opportunity to work with
others to shape the future of our globe. We have a chance to achieve
peace. We have a chance to achieve a more compassionate world for
every citizen. America believes deeply that everybody has worth,
everybody matters, everybody was created by the Almighty, and we're
going to act on that belief and we'll act on that passion.
You know, the world looks at us and says, they're strong. And we
are; we're strong militarily. But we've got a greater strength than
that. We've got a strength in the universality of human rights and the
human condition. It's in our country's history. It's ingrained in our
soul. And today we're going to describe how we're going to act --
not just talk, but act, on the basis of our firm beliefs.
I want to thank Tommy, he's the new chairman of the board of the
Global Fund. He's also the Secretary of Health and Human Services,
doing a great job for our administration. I want to thank so very much
the ambassadors from Guyana and Uganda for standing up here with us
today. I appreciate the other ambassadors from the continent of Africa
and the Caribbean for being here.
With us as well is Bill Frist, a United States Senator, Majority
Leader, passionate advocate of good health care for every citizen on
the globe; a man with whom this administration will work, along with
Russ Feingold, from Wisconsin, to make sure that the proposal becomes
real. That means funded. (Laughter and applause.)
There's no doubt in my mind that when you've got the Majority
Leader and a distinguished senator like Senator Feingold teaming up
together, that this will get done. It's just a matter of time.
I'm honored that Mark Malloch is here -- Mark Malloch Brown is
here, who is the U.N. -- administrator of U.N. develop program. I
want to thank the U.S. Surgeon General, Carmona is here with us. Rich,
thank you for coming. Andrew Natsios is USAID administrator. Dr.
Zerhouni of NIH is with us. Tony Fauci is here with us. There are a
lot of docs here today. (Laughter.) Julie Gerberding of the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. Thank you, all, for coming today.
Les Crawford is the deputy commissioner of the Food and Drug
Administration.
And, of course, a man who is on my staff who is going to make an
enormous difference here and abroad as direct advisor to the President,
and that's Dr. Joe O'Neill, who's the director of National AIDS
Policy. He's about as fine a human being as you'll ever know. He
cares deeply and his care has had -- he's got a lot of influence, let
me put it to you this way, because of his convictions.
As I mentioned, we're a strong nation. But we're also a blessed
nation. And it's important for our citizens to recognize that richness
is one thing. Recognizing that we're blessed gives a different
perspective, I think. I think it enhances the fact that we have a
responsibility. If you're blessed, there is a responsibility to
recognize your blessings in a compassionate way. Blessings are a
two-way street. We've got to understand in this country that if you
value life and say every life is equal, that includes a suffering child
on the continent of Africa. If you're worried about freedom, that's
just not freedom for your neighbor in America, that's freedom for
people around the globe. It's a universal principle.
As I said in my State of the Union, freedom is not America's gift
to the world, freedom is God's gift to humanity. Freedom means freedom
from a lot of things. And today, on Africa, in the continent of
Africa, freedom means freedom from the fear of a deadly pandemic.
That's what we think in America. And we're going to act on that
belief. The founding belief in human dignity should be how we conduct
ourselves around the world -- and will be how we conduct ourselves
around the world.
I want you all to remember, and our fellow citizens to remember,
that this is nothing new for our country. Human dignity has been a
part of our history for a long time. We fed the hungry after World War
I. This country carried out the Marshall Plan and the Berlin Airlift.
Today we provide 60 percent -- over 60 percent of all the
international food aid. We're acting on our compassion. It's nothing
new for our country. But there's a pandemic which we must address now,
before it is too late. And that's why I took this message to our
fellow citizens, that now is the time for this country to step up our
efforts to save lives. After all, on the continent of Africa, 30
million people have the AIDS virus -- 30 million people. Three
million children under the age of 15 have the AIDS virus. More than 4
million people require immediate drug treatment. Yet, just about 1
percent of people receive drug treatment. It is a significant world
problem that the United States of America can do something about. We
can be involved.
Tommy mentioned the images, the horrible images, that take place in
Africa. It's important for our fellow citizens as they listen to the
dialogue on this initiative to understand that there are mass burials
and unmarked graves on the continent of Africa. So many people are
dying. But the graves are unmarked. The pandemic is creating such
havoc that there are mass burials, that there are wards of children
that are dying because of AIDS. Not a ward, not some wards, but wards
after wards full of dying children because of AIDS. That there are
millions of orphans, lonely children, because their mom or dad has
died -- children left, in some cases, to fend for themselves.
Because the AIDS diagnosis is considered a death sentence, many
folks don't seek treatment, and that's a reality. It's as if the AIDS
pandemic just continues to feed upon itself over and over and over
again, because of hopelessness. This country needs to provide some
hope -- because this disease can be prevented and it can be treated,
that's important for our fellow citizens to know. Anti-retroviral
drugs are now dramatically more affordable in many nations, and these
drugs are used to extend the lives of those with HIV. In other words,
these drugs are really affordable.
And when the treatment has come to Africa, it is also important for
our citizens to understand the effect of that treatment. It's called
the Lazarus effect. When one patient is rescued by medicine, as if
back from the dead, many others with AIDS seek testing and treatment,
because it is the first sign of hope they have ever seen.
We have the opportunity to bring that hope to millions. It's an
opportunity for this nation to affect millions and millions of lives.
So that's why I've laid out the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. I
called it in my State of the Union a work of mercy, and that's what I
believe it is.
With the approval of Congress, we will devote $15 billion to the
fight AIDS abroad over the next five years, beginning with $2 billion
in the year 2004. (Applause.) I've been asked whether or not we're
committed to the Global AIDS Fund. Well, first of all, I wouldn't put
Tommy as the head of it if we weren't. And more importantly, he
wouldn't have joined if we weren't.
And so we're still committed to the Global AIDS Fund to fight
disease. This program in no way diminishes our commitment to the
fund. We will continue bilateral AIDS programs in more than 50
countries. We've already got bilateral relations with 50 countries
with whom we're working on AIDS, and we'll continue that program.
But this plan that I've laid out in front of the Congress and will
work with members of the Senate and the House on will dramatically
focus our efforts. You notice I didn't say, "focus our efforts," I
said, "dramatically focus our efforts." And that's important for the
American people to understand, because we want to bring a comprehensive
system. It's more than money that we bring, we bring expertise and
compassion and love and the desire to develop a comprehensive system,
work with people in Africa to do so, for diagnosis and treatment and
prevention.
We are determined to turn the tide against AIDS. And we're going
to start in 14 African and Caribbean countries, where the disease is
most heavily concentrated. We whip it in those 15 -- or 14 -- we
will show what is possible in other countries.
We're going to be involved with the fund. We'll continue to have
bilateral aid. We want to have intense focus where the need is most
severe, and show the world what is possible -- not just show our
fellow citizens or show the folks on the continent of Africa, but the
world needs to see what we can do together. The model has been applied
with great success in Uganda. Anybody who knows the issue of AIDS on
the African continent appreciates the efforts of Uganda. And we feel
like that it can be duplicated. And that's the mission, the goal.
Even though we're on 14 countries initially with this major focus, we
understand there's suffering elsewhere, and we want to expand beyond.
We want to encourage others to join us, as well.
The funding will initially go toward expanding existing hospitals,
and of course, drawing on the knowledge and the expertise of local
physicians. That makes sense. You've got a doc in place; we want to
encourage that doc to be able to continue his or her healing. We'll
build satellite facilities that can serve more people. Of course,
we'll provide antiretroviral drugs, and as well, work with folks on the
ground for education and care.
It's important for our citizens to know that the infrastructure is
-- it's hard for many Americans to imagine the lack of infrastructure
that we're working with on the continent of Africa. So we use
motorcycles, trucks, bicycles. We use nurses and local healers to go
to the farthest villages and farms to test for the disease and to
deliver medications that will save lives. It doesn't matter how the
medications get there; what matters is they do get there.
The facilities across Africa and the Caribbean will have now the
medicine. And our fellow citizens must understand that the reason they
do is because of your generosity, the taxpayers of the country. I hope
when our citizens absorb that knowledge -- the massive attempt to
save lives -- that they feel proud of their country, and proud of the
compassion of America. We're going to work with other governments, of
course, private groups, there's all kinds of faith-based programs
involved on the continent of Africa, and we welcome that, of course.
And we encourage that. And we thank you for that.
A fellow named Father Edward Phillips is here. Where are you,
Father? Right there, yes. I thought you were Father Edward Phillips
for a minute. (Laughter.) He is in Kenya, works in Kenya. He's
obviously followed his faith. He leads an organization that provides
testing and treatment in Nairobi. He's helped thousands of people
every year. He ought to be giving this speech, not me, because he
knows what it must feel like to play a significant role in saving
lives. And that's what we're here to talk about today, how best to
save lives.
And here's what the experts believe that will be accomplished, the
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. In this decade, we will prevent 7
million new infections. They will treat at least 2 million people with
life-extending drugs. We'll provide humane care, of course, for those
who suffer and, as importantly, for the orphans.
To me, that's just the beginning. But it's a pretty good start.
Most important thing is we're providing hope, which is immeasurable.
How can you possibly measure the benefits of hope? There's no -- we
can't quantify that. But it certainly can be qualified by saying a
hopeful society is a heck of a lot better society than what they found
on the continent today.
This project is urgent, and as we move forward on this program we
will continue to call upon other nations to join. The United States
doesn't mind leading and we believe others have a responsibility as
well, that we're not the only blessed nation. There are many blessed
nations. And we hope they join us. And as well, we've got a lot of
work to do here in America. It's important for our fellow citizens
never to think that one initiative, or a major initiative, in Africa
doesn't mean we're going to forget the 900,000 people living in America
today who carry the HIV virus. Of course we'll never do that. It's
important for our citizens to understand that there's 40,000 new
infections every year in this country. It's an issue. It's an issue
we must continue to deal with.
The AIDS diagnosis still obviously brings tremendous grief and
worries in parts of our society. And so the budget I've submitted and
worked with Congress on -- it will be a request for $16 billion for
domestic HIV prevention and care and treatment, a 7 percent increase
over '03. (Applause.) It's a $93 million increase for AIDS research,
$100 million more to support the AIDS drug assistance program.
(Applause.) This is a program which provides funding to purchase AIDS
related medicines for those without health coverage. And we're going
to help those abroad and we'll help those at home, as well.
We must also move quickly to increase the number of people who are
tested for HIV. How can you treat if you don't test? How can you help
if you don't know? And so the Food and Drug Administration recently
has approved a new HIV test, which can provide results in less than 30
minutes, with a 99.6 percent accuracy. (Applause.)
So today I've got an announcement to make, and it's this, that the
Department of Health and Human Services, after a lot of careful review,
has waived regulations so that the test will soon be more readily
available to doctors and public health facilities throughout the
country. (Applause.)
As I've said, it's going to be a significant year for our country.
I'm a person who believes that there's no obstacle put in our path that
we can't overcome, I truly believe that. I love what our country
stands for. I love the strength of America. The strength of America
really is the -- lies in the hearts and souls of our fellow
citizens.
As we move forward into the 21st century, there's no doubt we can
help the people on the African continent, while we help our own folks
at home with the deadly disease. There's no doubt we can arrest the
pandemic. There's no doubt we can bring hope in all parts of the
world, not only in Africa, but in neighborhoods in our own country
where people wonder what the American Dream means. There's no doubt in
my mind we can make the world more peaceful.
Today's initiative is one -- it's a step toward showing the world
the great compassion of a great country. Thanks for coming, and God
bless. (Applause.)