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Skriven 2006-01-18 23:33:00 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (060118) for Wed, 2006 Jan 18
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Mrs. Bush's Remarks at a Visit to St. Mary's Hospital in Nigeria
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For Immediate Release
Office of the First Lady
January 18, 2006

Mrs. Bush's Remarks at a Visit to St. Mary's Hospital in Nigeria
Gwagwalada, Nigeria



9:20 A.M. (Local)

MRS. BUSH: I'm so happy to be here today with Sister Elizabeth and everyone
here at St. Mary's to announce the shipment of the antiretrovirals and
drugs that are behind me that are the first part of a shipment of
antiretroviral drugs to St. Mary's Hospital. The United States -- PEPFAR,
the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief -- has had a relationship
with St. Mary's Hospital for a while. We started out by funding the
mother-to-child transmission -- or the stopping of the mother-to-child
transmission of HIV. And then our support has grown, as St. Mary's has
grown.

So today, what's behind me will be the first of a shipment for
antiretroviral treatment for 500 people. Already in Nigeria, about 29,000
people have been treated with funds from PEPFAR. Behind you, in a little
bit, we'll inaugurate the opening of St. Mary's new laboratory because
comprehensive drug treatment with antiretrovirals requires laboratory tests
to make sure people are really receiving the treatment they need. And the
United States, through PEPFAR, is proud to have been able to help St.
Mary's by buying some of the laboratory equipment that will be in this new
lab.

I met earlier this morning with President Obasanjo who stood with President
Bush and Kofi Annan in the Rose Garden in Washington, D.C., as they
announced the Global Fund for AIDS. He has been a partner all along in
trying to get treatment to as many people as possible in Nigeria to stop
the spread of AIDS and to treat people so people can live a normal life
with AIDS.

I also want to announce today -- and this is new -- that the United States
will commit $163 million this year to Nigeria to treat AIDS, treat people
with AIDS, to try to prevent the spread of AIDS and to make HIV/AIDS
treatment possible for many more people here in Nigeria.

So it's my honor to get to be here today with you. Thank you for your very,
very good work.

END 9:22 A.M. (Local)
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