United Press International - June 19, 2002
Kathy A. Gambrell, White House reporter

"Medical science gives us the power to save these young lives. Conscience demands we do so," Bush said.

During an address delivered in the White House Rose Garden, Bush detailed his International Mother and Child HIV Prevention Initiative that will focus on 12 countries in Africa and regions in the Caribbean with a high prevalence of infection. The funding would pay for anti-viral medication that can often prevent the passage of the HIV virus from mothers to their unborn children.

Over the next 16 months, $200 million drawn out of the supplemental appropriations request would become available for the program and the remaining $300 million become available in 2003 and fund the program through 2004.

The U.S. contributes $1 billion a year to international efforts to combat HIV and AIDS and plans to spend more than $2.5 billion on research and development of new drugs and treatments, officials said.

The White House estimates that more than 2 million HIV-infected women give birth each year worldwide. In 90 percent of those cases, the infant will be infected during the mother's pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding. Rates of infection in areas such as Botswana, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda, as well as Guyana and Haiti are rising, officials said.

Senior administration officials predicted that the initiative would save some 146,000 babies each year. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Agency for International Development would administer the program jointly for International Development.

"In time, we will gain valuable experience, improve treatment methods, and sharpen our training strategies. Health care systems in targeted countries will get better. And this will make even more progress possible. And as we see what works, we will make more funding available," Bush said.

The program would increase the availability of preventive care and build healthcare delivery systems designed to reach women. A senior administration official said that the administration would administer combination anti-retroviral therapy to women during the second trimester of pregnancy, then treating both the mother and child after birth in regions where adequate health care infrastructure exists. In areas where there is not adequate infrastructure, mothers and their infants would receive a single dose of the anti-retroviral drug nevirapine after delivery.

A joint U.S.-Uganda study showed that nevirapine, reduces transmission of HIV by 47 percent and perinatal transmission of HIV by 41 percent at 18 months of age in a breastfeeding population, according to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

The initiative would train personnel in African and Caribbean hospitals in prevention, training and treatment programs, place volunteer medical staff with the countries and recruit African medical and graduate students to provide testing, treatment and care.

AIDS activist criticized Bush's proposal, saying it has a "lack of vision" calling it a "narrowly focused and grossly under-financed plan."

"President Bush has undercut, yet again, bipartisan momentum toward spending on global AIDS that would make a real difference," stated Dr. Paul Zeitz, executive director of the Global AIDS Alliance. "The fact is, the U.S. has ample resources to help fight global AIDS. Yet, sadly, the President still seems unprepared to provide a truly balanced and fully-funded plan," said Zeitz.

Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., a physician, assured reporters later that Bush's proposal would be successful.

"As a physician who has been in Africa, in Kenya and Tanzania and the Sudan and in Uganda, looking at AIDS programs, working in hospitals and actually doing operations there, I can tell you that this program will work," Frist said.

The program is meant to complement the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to which the United States government donated an additional $500 million. Frist and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass, had co-sponsored a bill seeking a $1 billion increase in the U.S. contribution to the global fund in fiscal year 2003 which begins October 1. The bill is pending before the full U.S. Senate.

Last year, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo met with Bush at the White House where the president contributed $200 million into the global fund, a so-called war chest on the battle against the infectious disease. He then dispatched Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson the mission of leading a U.S. task force on AIDS that worked in conjunction with international community.

The administration and AIDS activists have had to battle some reservations from African leaders on the effectiveness of anti-viral drug use to combat the spread of infection. Last year, South African President Thabo Mbeki drew sharp criticisms for snubbing a U.N. AIDS summit as escalating death rates were plaguing his country. He had also been taken to task for his comments questioning the link between HIV and AIDS. He has since backed off from that position, however. Also, an activist group threatened to take Mbeki to court over his refusal to provide drug treatment for HIV-infected pregnant women.

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