UN AIDS Conference
 

Kerry on Fight Against AIDS:  "We Are Losing Ground"

RALEIGH, North Carolina – Senator John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic Presidential candidate, has promised to work with Congress to double funding to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

Last year, President Bush promised to commit $15 billion to the fight – three billion for each of the next five years.  But the Senator is claiming the President is “falling short of delivering on this promise”.

In a statement issued as delegates assembled in Bangkok for the fifteenth International AIDS Conference, Sen. Kerry said despite tireless efforts of those in the front line of combating AIDS, the epidemic is “one of the deadliest plagues of all time”. 

“We are losing ground,” he admitted.  “Every hour of every day, thousands of men, women and children die of AIDS, and thousands more are infected with HIV.  The United Nations reports that 5 million people were infected in 2004, the highest number ever in a single year.”

He said AIDS cannot be fought without adequate weapons to prevent new infections – and without providing treatment for the millions already living with HIV and AIDS.

“The Bush Administration has hampered U.S. efforts with policies crafted to appease its political constituencies, putting ideology before science,” he insisted.

“Meeting the challenge of the AIDS epidemic not only is a humanitarian and moral imperative, but also should form an integral part of our national security strategy.  Without a massive increase in our collective efforts, AIDS will threaten the stability of many of the world’s most populous countries.

“I have led efforts to put the United States at the forefront of AIDS prevention, treatment, and research.  Yet I know that much more remains to be done.

“My strategy starts with doubling U.S. funding.  Last year, President Bush promised to commit $15 billion to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria: three billion dollars for each of the next five years.  He is falling short of delivering on this promise.  As President, I will work with Congress to double U.S. funding to fight these epidemics – including substantial increases to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria – and I will turn up the diplomatic pressure to seek similar increases from our partners.

“This money will be spent wisely, invested in strategies based on science, not politics.  I support a comprehensive approach to stopping new HIV infections and recognize that prevention efforts cannot be effective without readily available treatments.  I will provide rapid distribution of quality medicines, including generic affordable, safe and effective drugs.  My strategy will meet the needs of women and children living with HIV and AIDS.  And, I am committed to finding new tools to prevent new infections, including launching an accelerated research effort to develop an AIDS vaccine.

“As President, I will work side by side with our international partners, faith-based, non-governmental, affected communities, and private sector groups in order to strengthen the capacity for a sustained response by those on the front lines.  A ‘go it alone’ approach to the war on AIDS is not how we will succeed; only in partnership can we have a chance of defeating this deadly disease.

“Finally, I look forward to welcoming back the International AIDS Conference to the United States. I will work with Congress to lift the immigration ban on HIV-positive people that has prohibited the United States from hosting this lifesaving meeting,” the statement concluded.