USIS Washington File - February 17, 2008

"My hope is that such an initiative will be part of an effort to transform parts of this country," Bush said February 17 in an outdoor ceremony at Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete's official residence. "We join you in this because of your government and your personal commitment to fight corruption, to invest in the education and health of your people and to accept and expand marketplace economics."

Both Bush and Kikwete engaged in talks for more than one hour before emerging to sign the MCC Compact and speak with reporters at a joint press availability.

Bush praised Kikwete's government, saying, "We are partners in democracy and believe that governments should respond to the people and are partners to fighting disease, extending opportunity and working for peace."

In his remarks, Kikwete gave thanks for the MCC initiative, saying the funding will address critical infrastructure challenges that "for a long time have been an obstacle to growth and development."

Signing the agreement personally in Tanzania, Kikwete said, shows that Bush deeply loves Tanzania in his heart.

The Tanzanian leader went on to praise Bush for his "great compassion" towards Africa by reaching out using different initiatives, instruments and moral leadership to support Africa's efforts to improve governance, to fight poverty, to seek shared prosperity, to resolve conflict, to improve security and jointly, to fight the scourge of terrorism.

FIGHT AGAINST HIV/AIDS

The United States and Tanzania also are working together to fight HIV/AIDS through the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) and combat malaria as part of the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI), Bush said.

Under Bush's administration, the number of people receiving anti-retrovirals to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa has grown from 50,000 to more than 1.2 million people, the U.S. president said.

"I tell people in America that [number] is great and good ... but it is only a start," Bush said. For that reason, he continued, Bush is asking the U.S. Congress to double the amount of HIV/AIDS money for Africa under his PEPFAR plan.

Bush also called on Congress to reauthorize PEPFAR for another five years. "We don't want people guessing on the continent of Africa whether or not the generosity of the American people will continue," he said.

EFFORTS TO COMBAT MALARIA

Moving on to malaria, Bush said, "It breaks my heart to know that little children are dying needlessly because of a mosquito bite" and from a virus that is readily treatable through money and organization.

He went on to praise Kikwete for his dedication to distributing insecticide-treated bed nets, educating the public and in making great strides against malaria in Zanzibar, an island off the Tanzanian coast which Bush said, "stands as an example to all on the continent."

Kikwete thanked Bush and the American people for saving lives in Africa. "Mr. President, today there are thousands of women and children who would have died of malaria but who are still alive in Tanzania and all over the continent" because of the President's Malaria Initiative, he said.

Kikwete cited health statistics from Zanzibar, Tanzania, to illustrate his point. "In 2004, in the outpatient clinic, 500,000 malaria patients were treated. In 2007, only 10,000 [were treated]. In 2004 on Zanzibar, 40 percent of the patients tested positive for malaria. In 2007, only 5 percent" tested positive, he explained.

Additionally, he said, thousands of children are now being cared for by their parents rather than becoming orphans because of President Bush's PEPFAR program.

"Different people may have different views about you and your administration and your legacy, but we in Tanzania -- if we are to speak for ourselves and for Africa -- know for sure that you Mr. President have been good friends of our country ... and Africa," Kikwete said.

Following the State House ceremony, President Bush and first lady Laura Bush toured the Amana District Hospital, which the United States helped build to serve more than one million people with 13 dispensaries. Afterward, the two participated in a roundtable with HIV/AIDS patients to hear testimonials from those being treated under PEPFAR.

The president and first lady ended the day by meeting with the families of victims of the 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy here before returning to State House to attend a dinner in their honor.

Bush will spends one more full day in Tanzania before traveling on to Rwanda, Ghana and Liberia before returning home. He arrived in Tanzania from Benin, the first stop on his historic second trip to Africa.

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