Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Miami Herald - February 12, 2003
Tim Johnson (tjohnson@herald.com)
Speaking to a Senate intelligence panel about global security threats, Tenet said the spread of HIV/AIDS continues unabated and will soon take a heavy toll outside of Africa.
Some three million people died of AIDS last year, Tenet said, and "more than 40 million are infected now" with the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
A recent intelligence report indicated that the globe might face 100 million HIV-infected people outside of Africa by the year 2010, Tenet told the panel.
"China will have about 15 million cases. In India, 20 [million] to 25 million cases. And cases are on the rise in Russia as well," Tenet said.
"The national security dimension of the virus is plain," he said. ``It can undermine economic growth, exacerbate social tensions, diminish military preparedness, create huge social welfare costs, and further weaken already beleaguered states."
President Bush, in his State of the Union speech Jan. 28, said the United States would launch an emergency plan to help the world cope with AIDS. Since then, he has sent to Congress a proposal to triple U.S. aid to the global fight against HIV/AIDS -- to $15 billion over the next five years.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking to the Senate budget panel, said a federal budget proposal sent to Capitol Hill last week includes "more than $1.3 billion to combat the global HIV/AIDS epidemic" in fiscal year 2004.
In a report issued last September, the National Intelligence Council said nations with effective health programs -- such as Brazil, Thailand and Uganda -- have stemmed the epidemic, but a number of other highly populous countries will soon be hit hard by AIDS.
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