press releases
U.S. Contributes to Fight Against AIDS
Athens (December 1, 2005) -- The theme for this World Aids Day is “Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise,” and the United States is doing just that.
President Bush will announce today, December 1, that as of September 2005 his Emergency Plan has supported anti-retroviral treatment for more than 400,000 men, women and children through bilateral programs in 15 of the most afflicted countries in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. More than 395,000 of those receiving treatment live in sub-Saharan Africa. The U.S. continues to support treatment for more people than any other international partner in the world.
The United States campaign to fight HIV/AIDS represents the largest international health initiative any nation has ever directed against a single disease. President Bush in 2003 launched an Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief - a commitment of $15 billion over five years to fight the disease in more than 123 countries around the world.
The plan set ambitious goals, including supporting treatment for 2 million HIV-infected people, supporting the prevention of 7 million new infections, and supporting care for 10 million people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, including orphans and vulnerable children, in 15 of the world's hardest-hit nations.
We are now implementing the most complex and diverse prevention, treatment and care strategy in the world. The need is critical - more than 40 million people worldwide are now estimated to be infected with HIV, and more than 2 million are children.
The heart of the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is to work shoulder to shoulder with partners in host nations in support of the national strategy in each country. We are also working closely with our key international partners, which include UNAIDS, WHO, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, to which the U.S. is by far the world's largest contributor.
The United States is a leading partner in the international fight against HIV/AIDS. Many people are alive today because of this effort. We have turned our promise into action and we will maintain this commitment.
Secretary Rice will tape a podcast on World Aids Day, available at http://www.state.gov/ on Thursday. For more information about the efforts of the United States and other organizations to combat HIV/AIDS, please see the U.S. Embassy webpage, http://www.usembassy.gr/.