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PRNewswire - April 2, 2003
-- Bill Now Moves on to Speaker of the House for Introduction on the Floor
LOS ANGELES, April 2 /PRNewswire/ -- House Resolution 1298, the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act of 2003, which authorizes $15 billion in funding for the global fight against AIDS, was marked up and approved today in Washington by the House Committee on International Relations. The bill, drafted in response to President Bush's groundbreaking State of the Union pledge to bring 2 million HIV positive Africans into treatment and prevent 7 million needless new HIV infections, was first introduced March 17th by a bipartisan coalition of House members, including the chairman and ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee. HR 1298 offers a comprehensive five-year response to the growing worldwide threat from HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in Africa and the developing world. Despite several committee members' attempts to try and add further abstinence-only measures to HR 1298 today, the bill passed in committee by a vote of 38 to 8 (without most of the additional abstinence-only measures), and now moves on to the Speaker of the House for introduction on the Floor.
"Today's swift approval of HR 1298 will help to save millions from the certainty of death by providing treatment and the money to purchase life-sustaining AIDS drugs for Africa and the developing world," said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF). "We salute Congressmen Henry Hyde and Tom Lantos for their leadership introducing and carefully shepherding this bill, and we thank the House Committee for their fast action on the resolution. We also want to acknowledge President Bush for his State of the Union commitment to the global fight against AIDS and strongly encourage Congress to quickly enact this life-saving legislation."
U.S. Reps. Henry J. Hyde (R-IL) and Tom Lantos (D-CA), were joined by U.S. Reps. James A. Leach (R-IA), Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Dave Weldon (R-FL) on March 17th in first introducing the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act of 2003.
"In some southern African countries, 30 percent or more of the adult population is infected with HIV," Congressman Hyde explained at the bill's March introduction, adding that many economies of developing countries are being devastated, as trained personnel in key sectors die, including teachers, health care and law enforcement personnel. "The world is on the verge of a modern-day plague that not only threatens the developing world, but the stability and health of the entire globe," Hyde said, adding, "the human suffering and devastation in Africa is only a prelude to what Asia and Latin America will soon face if the tide of the pandemic is not stemmed."
AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the nation's largest AIDS organization with three free AIDS treatment clinics in South Africa, Uganda and Honduras, has long urged Congressional leadership and Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson to shift the U.S. attention on global AIDS toward deployment of life-saving anti-retroviral treatment.
The Hyde/Lantos legislation authorizes $15 billion during fiscal years 2004-08 for what Hyde calls "responsive, coordinated and effective" initiatives which will: provide anti-retroviral therapy for people living with HIV; encourage a strategy that extends palliative care for people living with AIDS; support the research and development for vaccines for HIV/AIDS and malaria; emphasize the need to keep families together, with particular focus on the assistance needs of children and young people with HIV; contribute to multilateral initiatives that leverage the funds of others; and endorse wider application of the successful "ABC" approach that has reduced HIV prevalence in certain countries by stressing the importance of behavioral changes (including the promotion of abstinence, faithfulness and, when appropriate, the use of condoms) as the foundation of efforts to fight AIDS.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation is the US' largest specialized provider of HIV/AIDS medical care. AHF serves thousands of patients in California, New York and Florida regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. In addition, AHF currently operates two free AIDS treatment clinics in Africa: the Ithembalabantu (Zulu for "people's hope") Clinic in KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South Africa & the Uganda Cares Healthcare Center in Masaka, Uganda. http://www.aidshealth.org .
SOURCE AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Web Site: http://www.aidshealth.org
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