Associated Press - December 1, 2005

"Across Africa, this pandemic threatens the stability and the future of whole societies," Bush said about the disease, which afflicts more than 40 million people in the world. "In Asia, HIV/AIDS is a challenge that grows daily and must be confronted directly. Here in the United States, over a million of our citizens face this chronic condition."

Bush announced an initiative to help identify and reach out to faith-based and community organizations, which provide much of the health care in the developing world, and help them obtain access to U.S. assistance.

"By identifying and supporting these organizations, we will reach more people, more effectively, and save more lives," Bush said at the White House, which is recognizing World AIDS Day by dimming the lights in the North Portico for five minutes in the evening.

The initiative is part of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which the administration says has supported lifesaving treatments for about 400,000 people living with the disease in sub-Saharan Africa. Before Bush announced the plan in 2003, only 50,000 of the more than four million people in that region needing immediate AIDS treatment were getting medicine, according to the administration.

In the U.S., Bush said that AIDS, still a concern among gay men, is increasingly being found among women and minorities. Nearly half of the 40,000 new infections occur in the black community, he said.

The government issued a report earlier this year saying that more than one million Americans are believed to be living with HIV/AIDS. In 2003, an estimated 18,000 people died from AIDS.

Bush also urged Congress to reauthorize the Ryan White CARE Act, which funds care and support services for people with HIV who lack health insurance and other resources. The law, which was funded at $2 billion last year, expired in September. The House and Senate are expected to take up reauthorization bills next year.

Bush was joined by members of the Cabinet and first lady Laura Bush, who visited three countries in Africa in July. She said that the plan, for instance, helps fund the Mothers To Mothers-to-Be Clinic in South Africa, which works to prevent the transmission of HIV from mothers to their unborn children.

"Mothers who have been through the program help HIV-positive mothers who are now pregnant and need guidance and strength from someone who has walked in their shoes," Mrs. Bush said.

Howard Dean, head of the Democratic Party, said Bush has broken his promises on AIDS, by not providing all of the money he pledged in 2003 to fight the disease and by not pressing harder for pharmaceutical companies to provide generic medicine to poor countries.

"The Bush White House has talked a big game on fighting AIDS, but has consistently shortchanged the president's initiatives and stood in the way of important global efforts to curb this disease," Dean said. "America can do better than a president who breaks his promise on a matter as important as AIDS."

In May 2003, the administration committed $15 billion over five years for the emergency plan for AIDS to support treatment for two million people, prevention for seven million people and care for 10 million people.

Democrats have criticized the administration for not spending more of the money in the early years of the plan, but the administration decided to gradually step up the funding. In 2004, the first year of the initiative, $2.4 billion was committed. In fiscal 2005, it was $2.8 billion. For fiscal 2006, the president's request was $3.2 billion.

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