THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. The global devastation of HIV/AIDS
staggers the imagination and shocks the conscience. The disease has
already killed over 20 million people and it's poised to kill at least
40 million more.
In Africa, the disease clouds the future of entire nations and
threatens to hold back the hopes of an entire continent. In the
hardest-hit countries of sub-Sahara Africa as much as one-third of the
adult population is infected with HIV, and 10 percent or more of the
school teachers will die of AIDS within five years.
The wasted human lives that lie behind these numbers are a call to
action for every person on the planet and for every government. So,
today, my administration is announcing another important new initiative
in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
I want to thank Secretary Powell and Secretary O'Neill for their
hard work on this project. I appreciate so very much Tommy Thompson,
Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services for he and his
staff's vision and implementation, procedures for this project. I want
to thank Andrew Natsios, the Administrator of USAID. I appreciate Dr.
Tony Fauci, the Director of NIH, for being here, as well, of the
Allergy and Infectious Diseases Department. Thank you, Tony, for your
hard work on this. I appreciate Senator Bill Frist and Senator Jesse
Helms, for their vision on this issue. And I appreciate Jim Kolbe,
from the House of Representatives. Thank you all for being here
today.
One of our best opportunities for progress against AIDS lies in
preventing mothers from passing on the HIV virus to their children.
Worldwide, close to 2,000 babies are infected with HIV every day,
during pregnancy, birth or through breast feeding. Most of those
infected will die before their 5th birthday. The ones who are not
infected will grow up as orphans when their parents die of AIDS. New
advances in medical treatment give us the ability to save many of these
young lives. And we must, and we will.
Today I announce that my administration plans to make $500 million
available to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. This new
effort, which will be funded during the next 16 months, will allow us
to treat one million women annually, and reduce mother-to-child
transmission by 40 percent within five years or less in target
countries.
I thank all the members of Congress who supported this initiative,
especially Senators Frist and Helms. Their visionary leadership on
this issue will mean the difference between life and death for hundreds
of thousands of children.
Our initiative will focus on 12 countries in Africa and others in
the Caribbean where the problem is most severe and where our help can
make the greatest amount of difference. We'll pursue medical
strategies that have a proven track record. We'll define specific
goals. We will demand effective management. When the lives of babies
and mothers are at stake, the only measure of compassion is real
results.
We have a three-part strategy. First, in places with stronger
health care systems, we will provide voluntary testing, prevention,
counseling, and a comprehensive therapy of anti-retroviral medications
for both mother and child, beginning before delivery, and continuing
after delivery. This combination has proven extremely effective in
preventing transmission of the HIV virus.
Second, in places with weaker health care systems, we'll provide
testing and counseling, and we will support programs that administer a
single dose of nevirapine to the mother at the time of delivery, and at
least one dose to the infant shortly after birth. This therapy reduces
the chances of infection by nearly 50 percent.
Third, and most importantly, we will make a major effort to improve
the health care delivery systems in targeted countries. This will
allow more women and babies to receive the comprehensive therapy. It
will allow for better and longer treatment and care of all AIDS
victims. And it will lead to better health care in general for all the
country's citizens.
We'll help build better health care systems by pairing hospitals in
America and hospitals in Africa, so that African hospitals can gain
more expertise in administering effective AIDS programs. We'll also
send volunteer medical professionals from the United States to assist
and train their African counterparts. And we will recruit and pay
African medical and graduate students to provide testing, treatment and
care.
This major commitment of my government to prevent mother-to- child
HIV transmission is the first of this scale by any government,
anywhere. In time, we will gain valuable experience, improve treatment
methods, and sharpen our training strategies. Health care systems in
targeted countries will get better. And this will make even more
progress possible. And as we see what works, we will make more funding
available.
The United States already contributes approximately a billion
dollars a year to international efforts to combat HIV/AIDS. In
addition, we plan to spend more than $2.5 billion on research and
development for new drugs and new treatments. We've committed $500
million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS and other infectious diseases,
and we stand ready to commit more as this fund demonstrates its
success.
Today's initiative is not a substitute for any of these efforts.
It is not a substitute for further U.S. contributions to the Global
Fund. This initiative will complement those efforts, and it is an
essential new step in our global struggle against AIDS.
Today, I call on other industrialized nations and international
organizations to join this crucial effort to save children from disease
and death. Medical science gives us the power to save these young
lives. Conscience demands we do so.