USIA Washington File - 19 July 1999
Wendy S. Ross - USIA White House Correspondent
Gore announced the request during a July 19 event in the Old Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House, at which he also released a report by the Office of National AIDS Policy that recommended the funding increase.
The Vice President said that on World Aids Day 1998, President Clinton had asked the Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, Sandy Thurman, to conduct a fact-finding mission to Africa and report back to the White House on new steps that might be needed to deal with the growing crisis.
"This largest ever increase in U.S. AIDS resources will double our commitment in Africa for AIDS awareness and prevention, for home and community based care, for the care of children orphaned by AIDS, and for development of the infrastructure necessary to assist all three efforts," Gore said.
AIDS is now the worst African infectious disease catastrophe in the history of modern medicine, he said. The Vice President said that more than 20 million people on that continent are now infected and nearly 500 more become infected each hour.
"This initiative is part of our ongoing commitment to intensify our global battle against AIDS," Gore said. "But no nation can win this war on its own. We will challenge our G-8 partners and other donors to match America's increased commitment."
Gore announced that First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton will convene a meeting in September of donors "to discuss how we can enhance our AIDS efforts worldwide, and we will step up our work with foreign governments, corporate leaders, NGOs (non-governmental organizations), faith communities, our African partners, and our own community of AIDS organizations in the United States to leverage much needed funds and maximize their impact in the global battle against AIDS."
Attending the AIDS event in the Old Executive Office Building were Thurman, Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, members of Congress, and leaders of the African-American religious, children's and AIDS communities.
Retired South African Episcopal Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who called the battle against AIDS "a holy war," and a 20-year-old Ugandan woman named Olivia who spoke movingly about the loss of both her parents to AIDS, also spoke at the event.
"The story Olivia just told us, which wrenches our hearts, multiply that by 40 million to capture some idea of the magnitude of this tragedy," Gore said, noting that forty million African children lose one or both parents to AIDS during the next ten years.
Another message from Olivia, he said, was "the redeeming value" of support organizations for victims of AIDS, "which have reclaimed her life and given her the chance for her beautiful spirit to be made manifest in this world. And we need to do more for other children and other families," Gore said.
"We here in this room, with millions of allies around the world, we are the promise of hope and change," he said. "We make this promise, and we will keep this promise, to wage a wider war against this disease so when the story is told to future generations many decades from now, the moral of that story will be the power of the human spirit to unite behind a common cause, defeat a common foe, and advance the health and happiness and harmony of all humankind."
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