President Bush on Monday during his last State of the Union address urged Congress to authorize a $30 billion, five-year extension of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the New York Times reports (Stolberg, New York Times, 1/29).
PEPFAR initially was authorized to direct $15 billion over five years for HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis primarily to 15 focus countries. Bush in May 2007 called on Congress to increase this initial PEPFAR funding level to $30 billion for five years after the program's original mandate expires in September. Administration officials have said reauthorization of the program at $30 billion would increase the number of people receiving access to antiretroviral drugs through PEPFAR from 1.4 million to 2.5 million. In addition, a $30 billion reauthorization would provide prevention measures to about 12 million people (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 1/25).
Bush in his address said that PEPFAR "can bring healing and hope" to "many more" people than the 1.4 million who currently receive treatment through the program. He called on Congress to "maintain the principles that have changed behavior and made [PEPFAR] a success." Bush added that the U.S. is "working to cut by half the number of malaria-related deaths in 15 African nations" through the President's Malaria Initiative. The U.S. is "leading the fight against global poverty" and has "changed the way" aid is delivered by launching the Millennium Challenge Account, which "strengthens democracy, transparency and the rule of law in developing nations," Bush said as he called on Congress to "fully fund" the account (Bush speech text, 1/29).
Among the guests at Bush's address was Tatu Msangi, a 35-year-old registered nurse from Tanzania, and her daughter, Faith Mang'ehe. After learning she was HIV-positive Msangi enrolled in a PEPFAR program aimed at preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission and delivered an HIV-negative infant (AP/Google.com, 1/28).
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