Bush Launches $15 Billion Worldwide Assault on HIV/AIDS Pandemic

December 2003

In his 2003 State of the Union Address, President Bush announced the largest commitment
in history for an international public health initiative involving a specific disease: the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

The plan emphasizes treatment in 14 AIDS-stricken nations, and continues and expands ongoing aggressive HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and support programs.

Nearly $10 billion in new U.S. resources will be directed over the next five years to: Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guyana, Haiti, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

The plan will also provide additional money for the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The emergency plan includes the purchase of low-cost, antretroviral medication and other lifesaving drugs. It also calls for setting up a broad network to deliver drugs to remote points in Africa.

In July 2003, Bush named Randall Tobias, as State Department Global AIDS Coordinator. Tobias is the former chief executive officer of Eli Lilly.

Access the December 2003 edition of FrontLines [PDF, 2MB]