Senate agrees to triple anti-AIDS funding
- added July 16, 2008
- 5 responses
-
-
-
- mako2424
- added this
-
-
- related topics
-
- News and Politics (38561)
- Politics (26971)
- Africa (1037)
- Democrats (983)
- Republicans (476)
- AIDS (250)
- HIV/AIDS (214)
- foreign relations (7)
- Bipartisanship (7)
The Senate voted Wednesday to triple spending for a much-acclaimed program that has treated and protected millions in Africa and elsewhere from the scourges of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
The 80-16 vote committed the United States to spending up to $48 billion over the next five years for the most ambitious foreign public health program ever launched by the United States.
The legislation would replace and expand the current $15 billion act that President Bush championed in a State of the Union address and Congress passed in 2003. That act expires at the end of September.
In a statement, ' said that when the program was launched in 2003, about 50,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa were receiving anti-retroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS. Today, the program supports lifesaving anti-retroviral treatment for more than 1.7 million people around the world, he said. It also has supported treatment and prevention programs that have helped HIV-positive women give birth to nearly 200,000 infants who are HIV-free.
The Democratic-led Senate, rarely in agreement with the White House, gave Bush credit for initiating the program. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a chief negotiator in crafting the bill, said the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, is "the single most significant thing the president has done."
The global AIDS program will save tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of lives, Biden said, "and the president deserves our recognition for that."
Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, and co-negotiator with Biden, said the program "has helped to prevent instability and societal collapse in a number of at-risk countries." He added that it has "facilitated deep partnerships with a new generation of African leaders, and it has improved attitudes toward the United States in Africa and other regions."
[Credit: Jim Abrams, AP; Photo: hopeinthedark.com]
The 80-16 vote committed the United States to spending up to $48 billion over the next five years for the most ambitious foreign public health program ever launched by the United States.
The legislation would replace and expand the current $15 billion act that President Bush championed in a State of the Union address and Congress passed in 2003. That act expires at the end of September.
In a statement, ' said that when the program was launched in 2003, about 50,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa were receiving anti-retroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS. Today, the program supports lifesaving anti-retroviral treatment for more than 1.7 million people around the world, he said. It also has supported treatment and prevention programs that have helped HIV-positive women give birth to nearly 200,000 infants who are HIV-free.
The Democratic-led Senate, rarely in agreement with the White House, gave Bush credit for initiating the program. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a chief negotiator in crafting the bill, said the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, is "the single most significant thing the president has done."
The global AIDS program will save tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of lives, Biden said, "and the president deserves our recognition for that."
Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, and co-negotiator with Biden, said the program "has helped to prevent instability and societal collapse in a number of at-risk countries." He added that it has "facilitated deep partnerships with a new generation of African leaders, and it has improved attitudes toward the United States in Africa and other regions."
[Credit: Jim Abrams, AP; Photo: hopeinthedark.com]
-
So, it would seem, our government isn't completely devoid of a conscience.
That said, 16 Republican Senators voted against the funding including both Kay Bailey Hutchinson and John Cornyn from Texas who will be receiving emails shortly. -
Why is it health care for Americans can't even get a vote, but health care for Africans passes in a landslide? Who does the Senate think they are working for?
-
50 billion dollars for another country, has anyone visited a childrens cancer hospital and seen that they need help.
Our roads need to be fixed
our kids have cancer
We have aids in our country
The money should stay here -
It's great to help other countries and needs to be done, however, much more help is need in the US. Maybe these African countries have oil that Chaney wants.
-
-
-
-
- rwadams666
- 2 months ago
-
-
Although this is one good decision that the current administration has made, we need to concentrate on our country as well. We also need to continue to educate the unknowing public about the spread of HIV/AIDS.
http://current.com/items/89082892_red_cross_discriminat...
Login/Registration is required to add a response.
