Associated Press - Monday December 9, 2002
Jim Patterson, Associated Press Writer

"The questions that were asked in Germany (about the Holocaust) a generation later - 'How could you let that happen' - will be asked of us," the lead singer of the group U2 said in an address to about 500 people attending a forum on protecting infants from HIV .

"It is absolute madness that at a time of unimaginable prosperity in the world, that people can be dying at this level. There are cities in Africa where a third of the people are going to die, and we have the technology" to prevent it, said Bono, a prominent AIDS activist.

The forum, attended by public health professionals, students and AIDS workers, was sponsored by the Washington-based Global Health Council. The council, whose members include doctors, corporations, government agencies, is working for improvement and equity in global health care.

Dressed casually in T-shirt and black jacket, Bono was soft-spoken and deferred attention to the doctors.

Agnes Nyamayarwo, a Kenyan nurse living with HIV whose 6 1/2-year-old son and husband were killed by AIDS, told the forum that she remained optimistic.

"I feel that my dream one day will come true," Nyamayarwo said. "And my dream is a world without AIDS."

In 2001, more than 2.5 million of 26 million pregnant women in Africa were HIV positive, according to the Global Health Council. Two doses of the drug Nevirapine - costing about $1 - could prevent many of their children from getting HIV, said Dr. Nils Daulaire, president and CEO of the Global Health Council.

Daulaire proposed raising the amount of U.S. HIV-related foreign aid to $2.5 billion next year, up from the $1 billion spent this year.

"That much could be well and effectively spent," he said.

Frist, the Senate's only physician, said he unsuccessfully pushed in Congress last term for a $500 million increase in AIDS spending but was optimistic about the future.

"The fire is coming, the fire is on its way. We are not winning the war today," Frist said, citing projections that 68 million people could die of AIDS by 2020.

"We've seen a coming together after Sept. 11th," Frist said. "Now, today for HIV/AIDS, it's time to once again rise to a challenge that is equal to what we have done since the Sept. 11th attacks of last year."

Worldwide, there are 42 million HIV positive people, with sub-Saharan Africa home to 75 percent of them, according to UNAIDS, the United Nations' AIDS agency.

--- On the Net:

Global Health Council: http://www.globalhealth.org/

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