For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 29, 2002
World AIDS Day, 2002
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Policy Accomplishments and Initiatives (pdf)
The HIV/AIDS pandemic has taken the lives of more than 20 million
people and is projected to take millions more. On World AIDS Day,
countries around the world are united to support the individuals,
families, and communities affected by this disease, and to renew our
commitment to preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS, developing and
delivering more effective treatments, and finding a cure.
To support our struggle against HIV/AIDS, we must call upon the
compassion, energy, and generosity of all people. Through their
service and dedication, faith-based and volunteer organizations are
providing local and global communities with strategies to confront the
HIV/AIDS pandemic. By responding to the needs of their neighbors,
these organizations and individual citizens offer invaluable support
and hope to countless people. These organizations also help overcome
dangerous barriers to HIV prevention, care, and treatment such as the
stigma and discrimination that often attaches to those suffering from
HIV/AIDS. By raising awareness and promoting acceptance of people
living with HIV/AIDS, we help improve the lives of millions of people
around the world and demonstrate the compassion of our Nation.
My Administration remains strongly committed to supporting research
that treats those living with HIV/AIDS, prevents the spread of this
disease, and that can develop a cure. For this coming year, my
Administration has requested $2.9 billion for research on vaccines and
treatments to combat the disease. This is a significant increase over
prior year funding for these efforts, and expresses my Administration's
commitment to helping find a cure.
To help stop the global spread of AIDS we must prevent mothers from
passing the HIV virus to their children. My Administration has
committed $500 million to the new International Mother and Child HIV
Prevention Initiative, which will focus on countries in Africa and the
Caribbean where the problem is the most severe. This Initiative seeks
to treat 1 million women annually and to reduce mother-to-child
transmission of HIV/AIDS by 40 percent within 5 years. It also
increases the availability of preventative care and drug treatment
therapy, and seeks to improve critical healthcare delivery systems.
The International Mother and Child Prevention Initiative will save
thousands of lives, and assist our vital effort to overcome the global
devastation of HIV/AIDS.
The United States intends to provide more than $1.3 billion in 2003
to international efforts to combat HIV/AIDS, a 30 percent increase over
the prior year's commitment. I was very pleased to help launch the
Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria together with
U.N. Secretary-General Annan and Nigerian President Obasanjo. My
Administration has since then pledged $500 million to the Global Fund,
and we are committed to further support the Fund as it continues to
demonstrate its success.
On World AIDS Day, I urge world leaders and citizens to join the
efforts to combat HIV/AIDS. By working together, we can provide hope
and comfort to all those affected by this devastating disease.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States
of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution
and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim December 1, 2002, as
World AIDS Day. I invite the Governors of the States and the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, officials of other territories subject to
the jurisdiction of the United States, and the American people to join
me in reaffirming our commitment to combating HIV/AIDS. I encourage
all Americans to participate in appropriate commemorative programs and
ceremonies in houses of worship, workplaces, and other community
centers to remember those who have lost their lives to this deadly
disease and to comfort and support those living with and impacted by
HIV/AIDS.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-seventh
day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand two, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and
twenty-seventh.
GEORGE W. BUSH
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