[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 48 (Monday, December 5, 2005)]
[Pages 1801-1804]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on the World AIDS Day

December 1, 2005

    Thanks for coming. Thank you all. How about my line of work, where 
you get introduced by your wife? [Laughter] And I'm glad I got 
introduced by Laura because she deeply cares about the issue of HIV/
AIDS. She's a great First Lady with a compassionate heart. In her 
travels, she's carried a message of hope for the suffering and a message 
that the empowerment of women is essential to the prevention of AIDS. I 
thank you for your introduction. More importantly, I thank you for your 
love.
    I want to thank you all for coming and for joining the Government 
and, more importantly, the armies of compassion in the challenge of 
fighting AIDS. I want to thank Secretary Rice for being here, Secretary 
of

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State. The Secretary of Defense is with us, Secretary Rumsfeld; Carlos 
Gutierrez, Secretary of Commerce; Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao; Mike 
Leavitt, who is the Secretary of Health and Human Services; USAID 
Director Andrew Natsios is with us.
    Ambassador Randy Tobias, who is the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and 
has done a heck of a job. Thank you for being here. CDC Director Dr. 
Julie Gerberding; Tony Fauci is with us as well; Elias Zerhouni of the 
NIH--thank you all for being here. Thanks for being--making sure the 
scientific community stays on the leading edge of research to help save 
lives.
    I appreciate the Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez for joining us. 
I'm proud that two United States Senators have taken time out of their 
busy schedules to join us, Senator Dick Lugar and Senator Mike Enzi. 
Thank you all for being here. It means a lot.
    Finally, I want to thank the diplomatic corps for joining us. You're 
going to hear a strong message of support, and I know you'll relay this 
message back to your governments, along with a message that in order to 
deal with HIV/AIDS we must confront it honestly. We're glad you're here, 
your Excellencies. Thank you for joining us.
    Today, with people around the world, not just here in America but 
all around the world, 40 million--we turn our thoughts to the more than 
40 million men, women, and children who are living with HIV. That's what 
World AIDS Day is all about. And on World AIDS Day, we renew our 
commitment to turn the tide against this disease.
    HIV/AIDS is a global health crisis. It is also a daily burden for 
many of our families and neighbors and friends. Across Africa, this 
pandemic threatens the stability and the future of whole societies. In 
Asia, HIV/AIDS is a challenge that grows daily and must be confronted 
directly. Here in the United States, over a million of our citizens face 
this chronic condition. At the start of this century, AIDS causes 
suffering from remote villages of Africa to the heart of America's big 
cities. This danger is multiplied by indifference and complacency. This 
danger will be overcome by compassion, honesty, and decisive action.
    I believe America has a unique ability and a special calling to 
fight this disease. We are blessed with great scientific knowledge. 
We're a generous country that has always reached out to feed the hungry 
and rescue captives and care for the sick. We are guided by the 
conviction of our founding--that the Author of Life has endowed every 
life with matchless value.
    Here in America, some of our fellow citizens have now lived 15 years 
or more with HIV/AIDS. The Federal Government provides more than $17 
billion a year to help people in America living with HIV/AIDS, including 
funding that brings lifesaving drugs and treatment to hundreds of 
thousands of low-income Americans. With the help of medicine and their 
own daily courage, many people are managing a condition that was once 
uniformly fatal and proving that HIV/AIDS is a long-term illness like 
heart disease or diabetes.
    Yet America still sees an estimated 40,000 new infections each year. 
This is not inevitable, and it's not acceptable. HIV/AIDS remains a 
special concern in the gay community, which has effectively fought this 
disease for decades through education and prevention. And the 
demographics of this disease continue to change. AIDS is increasingly 
found among women and minorities. Nearly half of the new infections are 
found in the African-American community.
    We're determined to make voluntary HIV testing a routine part of 
health care in America, so people can know the truth about their status, 
tell others, and get the treatment they need. We're determined to end 
mother-to-child transmission of HIV in America because medicine makes it 
possible and conscience demands it. We're determined to improve care for 
minorities and citizens in the greatest need, and so I urge the Congress 
to reauthorize the Ryan White Care Act.
    Our concern about HIV/AIDS does not stop at our borders. Other 
nations face greater challenges, yet they are moving forward with 
courage and determination that inspires our respect and deserves our 
support. Nations like Uganda and Kenya have demonstrated that leadership 
and honesty can overcome stigma and reduce rates of infection. Nations 
like Botswana and Namibia have shown that antiretroviral treatments can 
be widely delivered and highly successful.

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These countries and many others are fighting for the lives of their 
citizens, and America is now their strongest partner in that fight, and 
we're proud to be so.
    We're supporting our partners through the Global Fund, which is 
helping nations purchase medicines and treat tuberculosis, the deadly 
infection that often accompanies AIDS.
    We are also supporting our partners through the Emergency Plan for 
AIDS Relief, the largest initiative in history to combat a specific 
disease. This effort is designed to support and strengthen the AIDS-
fighting strategies of many nations, including 15 heavily afflicted 
nations in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. In May 2003, we committed 
$15 billion over 5 years to meet specific goals: to support treatment 
for 2 million people, support prevention for 7 million people, support 
care for 10 million people.
    We're working with our partners to provide treatment because the 
lives of people already infected should never be written off, because 
the best way to help a child in need is to help their parents live, and 
because people who know they can be treated are more likely to seek 
testing. We're working with our partners to expand prevention efforts 
that emphasize abstinence, being faithful in marriage, and using condoms 
correctly. This strategy, pioneered by Africans, has proven its 
effectiveness, and America stands behind the ABC approach to prevention.
    And we're working with our partners to expand compassionate care, 
especially for the millions of children made orphans by this cruel 
disease.
    The United States Congress and the American people have been 
generous in this effort, and Americans can know that their generosity is 
making a significant difference. Before the Emergency Plan for AIDS 
Relief, only 50,000 people of the more than 4 million people in sub-
Saharan Africa needing immediate AIDS treatment were getting medicine. 
Think about that--only 50,000 people. After 2 years of sustained effort, 
approximately 400,000 sub-Saharan Africans are receiving the treatment 
they need.
    Today I'm proud to welcome Thandazile Darby and her two children, 
Lewis and Emily--Lewis, by the way, is age 4; Emily, age 5--and their 
doctor, Dr. Helga Holst. They're from South Africa. Welcome to America.
    It's the effects of a long speech. [Laughter] Two years ago, she 
took Emily to the hospital for what she thought was the mumps. Later 
they found that Emily and the rest of the family were HIV-positive. 
Thandazile's late husband's relatives tried to support her treatment for 
as long as they could, but the cost was too high. Thanks to the 
Emergency Plan funds, the Darbys began to get the treatment they 
desperately needed. Soon these children will start school, and now their 
mom dreams that someday they will attend college. Here is what 
Thandazile says: ``The medicine used to be very expensive. I used to 
have to decide between taking our medicine and putting food in our 
bellies. It was difficult, because we needed to have food in our bellies 
so that we could take the pills. Now I can afford to buy food for my 
family, and we can keep taking our medicine to stay healthy.''
    I want to thank you for joining us today, and I want to thank for 
your strong example of courage.
    This example is repeated across Africa and beyond. In northern 
Namibia, Emergency Plan funds helped a Lutheran hospital build a new HIV 
treatment center and hire 12 doctors and nurses and other staff. As a 
result, this clinic has been able to put 1,475 people on treatment in 
less than a year. In Botswana, Emergency Plan funds are supporting two 
clinics to launch a peer counseling program for mothers to provide 
emotional support and prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. 
In Uganda, Emergency Plan funds helped Dr. Peter Mujenyi expand from one 
site serving those with AIDS to 25 sites in a single year. Today, there 
are 35 sites, many of them in remote rural areas, that provide treatment 
to 35,000 of his countrymen. I first met Peter more than 2 years ago. 
This man is an incredible leader. He's an incredibly compassionate soul. 
I want to thank you for being a lifesaver, and thank you for joining us.
    We're making good progress, and none of it would be possible without 
the devotion and professionalism of our partners on the ground: 
Courageous leaders of African nations who care about their people and 
who

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tell the truth; doctors and pharmacists who work without rest in 
overcrowded wards; health workers, often with HIV themselves, who visit 
homes and make sure people are taking their medicine; people who run 
youth groups and clubs that encourage abstinence and help children with 
HIV face the challenges of life. Many of these good people who serve 
others are also motivated by their deep faith. And we want to expand 
these partnerships.
    So today I am pleased to announce the New Partners Initiative. 
Through this initiative, which is part of the Emergency Plan, we will 
further reach out to our faith-based and community organizations that 
provide much of the health care in the developing world and make sure 
they have access to an American assistance. By identifying and 
supporting these organizations, we will reach more people, more 
effectively and save more lives.
    Americans have always stood for human dignity when history calls. 
When the nations of Europe lay in rubble after World War II, America 
helped build a brighter future with the Marshall plan. When the 
developing world looked for help and inspiration, we sent the Peace 
Corps to lay new foundations for friendship. And now, as millions 
afflicted with AIDS reach out for help, the American people are once 
again responding. On this World AIDS Day, we are proud to stand with our 
friends and partners in this urgent struggle. And every life we help to 
save makes us proud to be Americans.
    I want to thank you all for your good work. Thank you for joining us 
today. May God bless those who suffer, may God continue to bless our 
country.

Note: The President spoke at 10:08 a.m. in Room 450 in the Dwight D. 
Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The transcript released by the 
Office of the Press Secretary also included the remarks of the First 
Lady.