Bush Administration Outlines Africa Aid Plan Including $3.3B for Fighting Infectious Diseases in Developing Countries
The Bush administration yesterday outlined a plan to spend almost $4.5 billion in Africa to help fight disease, reduce famine and produce clean water, including $3.3 billion over two years to fight infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, in developing countries, the AP/Nando Times reports. The plan, which was discussed with congressional staffers yesterday, will be presented during the United Nations' World Summit on Sustainable Development, which will be held next week in Johannesburg, South Africa. Approximately half of the disease-control programs outlined in the plan have either been approved or announced previously, including the administration's initiative aimed at reducing the rate of mother-to-child HIV transmission in Africa and the Caribbean, the AP/Nando Times reports. Secretary of State Colin Powell will lead the U.S. delegation to the conference (Heilprin, AP/Nando Times, 8/20).
Report Cites U.S. Contributions to HIV/AIDS Programs
In advance of the summit, USAID yesterday released a report outlining the United States' contribution to international sustainable development programs, including HIV/AIDS efforts. The report noted the following initiatives:
- the Bush administration's proposal to spend $500 million on vertical HIV transmission prevention programs in developing nations;
- the United States' $500 million pledge to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria;
- the expansion of the number of USAID's "HIV/AIDS priority countries" from 17 nations to 23 and the increase in funding for programs in these countries;
- HHS's Global AIDS Program, which provides surveillance, monitoring, research, prevention and care services in 24 countries;
- CDC efforts that provide capacity and infrastructure assistance in 16 countries;
- NIH's vaccine research initiatives; and
- U.S.-sponsored HIV prevention programs that have lowered HIV prevalence rates in Zambia and Uganda ("Working for a Sustainable World: U.S. Government Initiatives to Promote Sustainable Development," USAID, August 2002).