USIS Washington File - February 6, 2008

In 2003, Bush announced the $15 billion President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the largest international health initiative ever launched by one nation to address a single disease, with much of its focus on the African nations of Botswana, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. (The non-African focus countries are Guyana, Haiti and Vietnam.)

When the program first was announced in 2003, it was estimated that only 50,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa were receiving treatment for HIV/AIDS. As of September 30, 2007, approximately 1,445,500 men, women and children are receiving life-saving anti-retroviral treatment, including 1,358,500 in the 15 focus countries. Sixty-two percent of those treated in the focus countries are women and girls and nearly 86,000 are children under age 14.

Seeking to expand on PEPFAR's success, President Bush announced his intention to double its funding to $30 billion over the next five years.

Currently, 20 percent of PEPFAR's budget is spent on prevention efforts, such as stopping the transmission of HIV from mothers to their children and educating people on how to remain disease-free. The remaining 80 percent covers care and treatment of patients, laboratory support, anti-retroviral drugs, support for orphans and other vulnerable children, plus other services such as infrastructure costs and training of health personnel.

PEPFAR also is providing funds to help those who suffer from tuberculosis (TB), which is the most frequently occurring opportunistic disease that attacks the weakened immune system of HIV-positive persons. Over the past three years, the funding amount has increased more than six-fold from $18.8 million in 2005 to at least $120 million in 2007. By the end of September 2006, PEPFAR had provided care to more than 301,000 who are infected with both TB and HIV in the focus countries.

For additional information, see "HIV/AIDS Fight Remains High Priority for United States."

CARING FOR 6 MILLION AFRICANS SUFFERING FROM MALARIA

Along with fighting HIV/AIDS, the Bush administration also launched the $1.2 billion President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) in June 2005 designed to reduce malaria's mortality rate by 50 percent in the three target countries of Angola, Tanzania and Uganda.

As of June 2007, the PMI has provided U.S. aid in the form of life-saving medicines, sprays and bug nets to 6 million Africans who are suffering from malaria in those three countries. With an additional $30 million in assistance, the list of target countries now is increasing to include Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal and Zambia.

In his January 28 State of the Union address in Washington, President Bush told U.S. lawmakers "America is leading the fight against disease," through the PMI and PEPFAR programs. In his request to continue U.S. taxpayer funding for the programs, he added "We can bring healing and hope to many more."

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