New York Times
With Republicans and Democrats in Congress urging him to increase spending in the fight against global AIDS, President Bush yesterday announced a $500 million plan to prevent expectant mothers from passing HIV to their babies. More than 2,000 infants are infected with HIV every day during pregnancy, birth or breast-feeding, despite the widespread availability of cheap antiretroviral medicines that greatly reduce the virus's transmission. The White House said the new money, which includes $200 million already set aside by Congress, will provide treatment to 1 million women a year during the next five years.
"Medical science gives us the power to save these young lives," Bush said in a Rose Garden ceremony. "Conscience demands that we do so."
Reaction among AIDS advocates was mixed. By drawing women into clinics for counseling, testing and treatment, the program will "put in place a single infrastructure" that could be expanded to include entire communities, said the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation's Mark Issac, who added that Bush showed "real leadership."
Paul Davis, a representative of the nonprofit Health Gap Coalition, called the program "a pretty bald attempt to get favorable headlines." Noting that Congress had already appropriated $200 million for the program, and that the rest will not be available until 2004, Davis added, "They are claiming 500 million bucks, but that is claiming credit for monies that were passed by the United States Congress only over the strenuous objections of the White House."
Earlier, Republican Sens. Bill Frist (Tenn.) and Jesse Helms (N.C.) had offered a measure making $500 million available for a program similar to the one Bush is now proposing. But two weeks ago, at the request of the White House, Frist reduced the amount to $200 million - the amount Congress ultimately approved. The White House has budgeted $988 million for global AIDS this year and plans to increase spending to $1.1 billion next year.