[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 3 (Wednesday, January 26, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S95]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               ELIZABETH GLASER PEDIATRIC AIDS FOUNDATION

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President. I have spoken in this Chamber 
before about the exemplary life of Elizabeth Glaser and the work of the 
Pediatric AIDS Foundation, which bears her name. I rise today to again 
speak about Elizabeth and her remarkable work and life.
  In 1986, Elizabeth and her husband, Paul, discovered that she and her 
two children were infected with HIV as a result of a blood transfusion 
following a difficult childbirth. In 1988, following the death of their 
daughter, Ariel, to AIDS she founded a foundation to raise money for 
scientific research for pediatric AIDS. At the time there was little 
coordinated research focused on the effect of this disease on children 
or pharmaceutical testing of protocols for pediatric AIDS.
  In 1994, Elizabeth succumbed to this terrible disease after a long 
and courageous battle.
  Today, eleven years after its founding, the Elizabeth Glaser 
Pediatric AIDS Foundation has raised more than $85 million in support 
of AIDS research. This has lead to a new and greater understanding of 
HIV/AIDS and its effects on children.
  Among the more exciting and promising breakthroughs this research has 
provided is the drug Nevirapine. Last year, a study in Uganda showed 
that Nevirapine could prevent almost half of HIV transmissions from 
mothers to infants--and at a fraction of the cost of other, less 
effective, treatments.
  Mr. President, some 1,800 children are infected with HIV each day. 
The United Nations reports that 33.6 million people are infected with 
HIV or have developed AIDS; more than two-thirds of these people live 
in Sub-Saharan Africa. As the nature and emographis of HIV/AIDS 
evolves, the work of groups like the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS 
Foundation is a pioneer in its field, richly deserving of the support 
and attention it receives.
  Elizabeth Glaser remans a source of strength and inspiration to all 
of us. And her good works continue to reap benefits for countless 
thousands of people.

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