[Ip-health] New York Times: Bush Requests $30 Billion to Fight AIDS

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

May 31, 2007
Bush Requests $30 Billion to Fight AIDS
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG

WASHINGTON, May 30 =97 President Bush called Wednesday for Congress to
spend $30 billion to fight global AIDS over the next five years, a near
doubling of financing that is part of a White House effort to burnish
Mr. Bush=92s humanitarian credentials before he meets leaders of the
Group of 8 industrialized nations next week.

The initiative, if approved, would build on a program that grew out of
the president=92s 2003 State of the Union address, when he asked for $15
billion over five years for prevention, treatment and care of AIDS
patients in developing countries. Congress approved more than $18
billion, but the program is set to expire next year.

Mr. Bush=92s announcement, delivered in the White House Rose Garden, adds
to what has become an unexpectedly high priority for the White House.
AIDS was not a signature issue for Mr. Bush when he ran for office in
2000. But it has become one in part because the Christian conservatives
who make up his political base have embraced it, and in part because
Mr. Bush wants to build a legacy for the United States and a more
compassionate image abroad to counter international criticism of
American policies in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

That sentiment was reflected in Mr. Bush=92s remarks on Wednesday.

=93Once again, the generosity of the American people is one of the great
untold stories of our time,=94 he said. =93Our citizens are offering
comfort to millions who suffer, and restoring hope to those who feel
forsaken.=94

AIDS advocacy organizations praised Mr. Bush for proposing the
additional money, but said the plan =97 which he said would provide drugs
for 2.5 million patients =97 did not go nearly far enough toward meeting
the international community=92s stated goal of treating the estimated 10
million patients in developing nations.

=93It=92s a modest increase, it=92s important that he reaffirmed it, but we
will need the next president to do more,=94 said Paul Zeitz, executive
director of the Global AIDS Alliance, a nonprofit advocacy group.
=93We=92re not getting ahead of the AIDS crisis. We=92re tempering it.=94

Administration officials concede that point and say the White House is
hoping Mr. Bush=92s announcement will prod other Group of 8 countries, as
well as nations that have growing economies, to make spending
commitments of their own.

=93The goal of universal access isn=92t a United States goal, it=92s a glob=
al
goal,=94 said Mark R. Dybul, the administration=92s global AIDS
coordinator. =93The rest of the world is going to need to respond if we
are going to achieve these goals.=94

International development and human rights issues will be high on the
agenda of next week=92s summit, but so will climate change =97 an issue on
which Mr. Bush finds himself at odds with his fellow Group of 8
leaders, notably the meeting=92s host, Chancellor Angela Merkel of
Germany. Dan Bartlett, counselor to Mr. Bush, said the president
intended to address climate change in a speech on Thursday at the
United States Agency for International Development.

But so far this week, Mr. Bush has been devoting most of his attention
to human rights and poverty, issues that draw him less criticism than
his stance on climate change. In an interview Monday night, a senior
administration official said Mr. Bush planned to spend the week in
advance of the Group of 8 conference spotlighting humanitarian issues
and =93demonstrating U.S. leadership around the world.=94

On Tuesday, Mr. Bush announced he was imposing stiff economic sanctions
on Sudan to press its government into cooperating with a United Nations
peacekeeping force that is trying to end the violence in Darfur.

On Wednesday, in addition to the AIDS announcement, Mr. Bush named
Robert B. Zoellick, his former trade representative, as his candidate
to head the World Bank, calling the nominee =93a committed
internationalist=94 who =93wants to help struggling nations defeat
poverty.=94 In Thursday=92s speech, Mr. Bush also intends to talk about
education programs in the developing world, and his initiative to
combat malaria.

The AIDS initiative, which is likely to generate bipartisan support in
Congress, would cover federal spending for the 2009 to 2013 fiscal
years, meaning the vast majority of the money would be spent after Mr.
Bush left office. To promote it, the White House is sending Laura Bush
to Africa next month.

=93She and I share a passion,=94 Mr. Bush said. =93We believe that to whom
much is given, much is required.=94

The United Nations reports that there are nearly 40 million people
worldwide living with H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS; last year
three million died from their infections. In his announcement in 2003,
Mr. Bush said he was committed to offering treatment for two million
H.I.V. patients by 2008. But so far, he said, the program, called the
President=92s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, has paid for treatment for
just 1.1 million people in 15 nations.

Advocates complain that the new goal, bringing the number of patients
treated to 2.5 million, is not that much more ambitious than the old
one. =93By 2013 there will be 12 million people that urgently need
medicines,=94 Mr. Zeitz said.

The White House, however, said that in addition to providing treatment
for 2.5 million, the new money would prevent 12 million new infections
and provide care for more than 12 million people.

Mr. Bartlett said the president was convinced America=92s image in the
world would improve because of it.

=93I=92ve heard him talk about this is a part of America that gets
overlooked,=94 he said, =93and that over time, people will look back and
say, =91At a point in time where America may have been under scrutiny for
other reasons, look at the significant contribution they have made.
They saved more lives than anybody could have imagined.=92 =94

---------------------------------
Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
voice +41.22.791.6727
fax +41.22.723.2988
mobile +41 76 508 0997
thiru@keionline.org