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Bush promotes $15 billion battle against AIDS
April 30, 2003 Posted: 2:09 AM EDT (0609 GMT)
President Bush is calling on Congress to pass a bill worth $15 billion that is designed to stem the spread of AIDS. Saying "time is not on our side," the president urged Congress on Tuesday to focus on saving lives. However, some lawmakers are hesitant to support the bill.
The measure comes as part of the president's focus on "compassionate conservatism," which promotes education, fighting poverty and disease, and helping poor countries. $14 billion of the bill would go directly to countries that have been hit hardest by AIDS, including nations in Africa and the Caribbean. The remaining $1 billion would help fund the worldwide fight against AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.
AIDS relief was a key component to the president's State of the Union address in January. At that time, Bush said that U.S. spending to stop the spread of AIDS should be tripled.
The disease has killed about 25 million people since it was first identified in 1981. Bush said on Tuesday that such global suffering could only be combated in two ways: "We can turn our eyes away in resignation and despair, or we can take decisive, historic action to turn the tide against the disease and give hope of life to millions who need our help now," he said.
RESOURCES
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• The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief: Fact Sheet 
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Bush's bill is based on an AIDS prevention strategy that has been used in Uganda since 1986. The African country's method is called the "ABC" approach because it emphasizes abstinence, being faithful in marriage, and condom use. These behaviors are considered key in preventing the transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Bush claims that the ABC approach has shown encouraging results in Uganda. "The AIDS infection rate has fallen dramatically since 1990, and in places throughout the country, the percentage of pregnant women with HIV has been cut in half," he said.
Some conservative lawmakers, however, do not entirely agree with the ABC method. Conservatives say it places too much importance on condom use. They argue that it should give more priority to promoting abstinence, or going without sexual activity.
Democratic leaders say they do not want any single strategy of the ABC method to be promoted as more important than the others. Many officials agree with its three-pronged approach.
As lawmakers work to iron out the details of the bill, senior officials say the Bush administration expects Congress to approve it quickly.
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