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Ron Stepneski's
Commentaries
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Bush's $15B AIDS battle plan merits praise
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President Bush
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NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2003 -- President Bush should be commended for his $15 billion, five-year proposal to battle the deadly HIV virus and AIDS in the most disease-ravaged parts of Africa and the Caribbean.
The bold and compassionate plan, unveiled during his State of the Union speech in January, would triple current spending and funnel $10 billion in new money to areas hardest hit by the disease – a dozen African nations plus Haiti and Guyana in the Caribbean.
The funding, which requires Congressional approval, would provide antiviral drugs for two million people, care for 10 million AIDS patients and orphans, doctors, specialized laboratories and education to help stem the epidemic.
And it cannot come too soon.
HIV is the virus that leads to so-called Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS, in which the body loses its ability to fight disease.
The continent of Africa, south of the Sahara Desert, has the highest total of HIV virus and AIDS victims on Earth – close to 30 million people, representing 70 percent of the cases in the world. A staggering 2.5 million died from AIDS there last year, according to a United Nations report.
The Caribbean is the second most-afflicted region with AIDS as the leading cause of death in some countries, according to the report. Haiti is in the worst shape with more than six percent of all adults testing positive for HIV.
Congress should act swiftly to approve this ambitious humanitarian proposal.
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