[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 25 (Monday, June 24, 2002)]
[Pages 1040-1042]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Announcing the International Mother and Child HIV Prevention 
Initiative

June 19, 2002

    Good morning. The global devastation of HIV/AIDS staggers the 
imagination and shocks the conscience. The disease has already killed 
over 20 million people, and it's poised to kill at least 40 million 
more.
    In Africa, the disease clouds the future of entire nations and 
threatens to hold back the hopes of an entire continent. In the hardest 
hit countries of sub-Sahara Africa as much as one-third of the adult 
population is infected with HIV, and 10 percent or more of the 
schoolteachers will die of AIDS within 5 years.
    The wasted human lives that lie behind these numbers are a call to 
action for every person on the planet and for every government. So 
today, my administration is announcing another important new initiative 
in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
    I want to thank Secretary Powell and Secretary O'Neill for their 
hard work on this project. I appreciate so very much Tommy Thompson, 
Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, for he and his 
staff's vision and implementation, procedures for this project. I want 
to thank Andrew Natsios, the Administrator of USAID. I appreciate Dr. 
Tony Fauci, the Director of NIH, for being here as well--of the Allergy 
and Infectious Diseases Department. Thank you, Tony, for your hard work 
on this. I appreciate Senator Bill Frist and Senator Jesse

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Helms for their vision on this issue. And I appreciate Jim Kolbe from 
the House of Representatives. Thank you all for being here today.
    One of our best opportunities for progress against AIDS lies in 
preventing mothers from passing on the HIV virus to their children. 
Worldwide, close to 2,000 babies are infected with HIV every day, during 
pregnancy, birth, or through breast-feeding. Most of those infected will 
die before their fifth birthday. The ones who are not infected will grow 
up as orphans when their parents die of AIDS. New advances in medical 
treatment give us the ability to save many of these young lives. And we 
must, and we will.
    Today I announce that my administration plans to make $500 million 
available to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. This new 
effort, which will be funded during the next 16 months, will allow us to 
treat 1 million women annually and reduce mother-to-child transmission 
by 40 percent within 5 years or less in target countries.
    I thank all the Members of Congress who supported this initiative, 
especially Senators Frist and Helms. Their visionary leadership on this 
issue will mean the difference between life and death for hundreds of 
thousands of children.
    Our initiative will focus on 12 countries in Africa and others in 
the Caribbean where the problem is most severe and where our help can 
make the greatest amount of difference. We'll pursue medical strategies 
that have a proven track record. We'll define specific goals. We will 
demand effective management. When the lives of babies and mothers are at 
stake, the only measure of compassion is real results.
    We have a three-part strategy. First, in places with stronger health 
care systems, we will provide voluntary testing, prevention, counseling, 
and a comprehensive therapy of anti-retroviral medications for both 
mother and child, beginning before delivery and continuing after 
delivery. This combination has proven extremely effective in preventing 
transmission of the HIV virus.
    Second, in places with weaker health care systems, we'll provide 
testing and counseling, and we will support programs that administer a 
single dose of nevirapine to the mother at the time of delivery and at 
least one dose to the infant shortly after birth. This therapy reduces 
the chances of infection by nearly 50 percent.
    Third, and most importantly, we will make a major effort to improve 
the health care delivery systems in targeted countries. This will allow 
more women and babies to receive the comprehensive therapy. It will 
allow for better and longer treatment and care of all AIDS victims, and 
it will lead to better health care in general for all the country's 
citizens.
    We'll help build better health care systems by pairing hospitals in 
America and hospitals in Africa, so that African hospitals can gain more 
expertise in administering effective AIDS programs. We'll also send 
volunteer medical professionals from the United States to assist and 
train their African counterparts. And we will recruit and pay African 
medical and graduate students to provide testing, treatment, and care.
    This major commitment of my Government to prevent mother-to-child 
HIV transmission is the first of this scale by any government, anywhere. 
In time, we will gain valuable experience, improve treatment methods, 
and sharpen our training strategies. Health care systems in targeted 
countries will get better. And this will make even more progress 
possible. And as we see what works, we will make more funding available.
    The United States already contributes approximately $1 billion a 
year to international efforts to combat HIV/AIDS. In addition, we plan 
to spend more than $2.5 billion on research and development for new 
drugs and new treatments. We've committed $500 million to the Global 
Fund to Fight AIDS and other infectious diseases, and we stand ready to 
commit more as this fund demonstrates its success.
    Today's initiative is not a substitute for any of these efforts. It 
is not a substitute for further U.S. contributions to the Global Fund. 
This initiative will complement those efforts, and it is an essential 
new step in our global struggle against AIDS.
    Today I call on other industrialized nations and international 
organizations to join this crucial effort to save children from disease 
and death. Medical science gives us the

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power to save these young lives. Conscience demands we do so.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 9:04 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Anthony S. Fauci, Director, 
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National 
Institutes of Health.