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Skriven 2006-12-01 23:31:22 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0612013) for Fri, 2006 Dec 1
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President Discusses World AIDS Day
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 1, 2006

President Discusses World AIDS Day


˙˙˙˙˙ Fact Sheet: World AIDS Day ˙˙˙˙˙ In Focus: HIV/AIDS

Roosevelt Room

10:41 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Laura and I welcome our guests -- this is World AIDS Day.
It's a day for the world to recognize the fact that there are 39 million
people living with HIV/AIDS, and a day to remember the fact that 25 million
people have died of AIDS. It's a day, as well, for the United States to
remember that we have a duty to do something about this epidemic, this
pandemic.

And today Laura and I met with the Secretary of HHS, as well as Mark Dybul,
our U.S. coordinator for our AIDS effort, and people who are involved with
helping to save lives, people from our country and people from around the
world who have come to share with us the stories of compassion and courage.

This country is committed -- we're committed in helping solve this problem
by dedicating a lot of resources to the battle against HIV/AIDS. The
American taxpayers have funded over $15 billion to help groups around this
table save lives. Before the PEPFAR program -- that's the name of the
program that we -- that's what we call the program that we dedicate money
to, to help save lives -- before it became into being, there was about
50,000 people receiving lifesaving drugs. Today there are over 800,000
people receiving lifesaving drugs, and we thank those who are on the ground
in the countries around the world who are using taxpayers' money to save
lives. We believe that it's one thing to spend money, we also believe it's
another thing to say that we expect there to be results. And the American
people need to know we're getting good results with your money, and we'll
continue to spend it wisely.

We also -- as we think about people affected with HIV/AIDS in countries
around the world, we remember those who have got HIV/AIDS here at home. And
it's very important for the American people to understand we're spending
over $18 billion to help save lives here at home. And I call upon the
Congress to reauthorize the Ryan White Act. The bill has passed the United
States House of Representatives; the Senate has time to act before it goes
on recess. It is an important piece of legislation that will enable us to
continue our fight against HIV/AIDS domestically.

I can't thank you all enough for coming, and I thank you for being such
decent, compassionate people. The pandemic of HIV/AIDS can be defeated, and
the United States is willing to take the lead in that fight. But we can't
do it alone, and so for our international partners, we appreciate what you
do. For the faith-based community, we thank you for hearing the universal
call to love a neighbor. And for the taxpayers, we appreciate your
generosity in showing the world the good heart and compassion of the
American people.

Thank you.

END 10:44 A.M. EST

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