US President George W Bush has committed US$500 million in overseas aid to support HIV testing for pregnant women and treatment to prevent HIV transmission to their babies.
Speaking in the White House Rose Garden yesterday, President Bush explained that this money would be made available over the next 16 months, focussed on 12 countries in Africa and others in the Caribbean "where the problem is most severe and where our help can make the greatest amount of difference".
"We have a three-part strategy," said Mr Bush. "First, in places with stronger health care systems, we will provide voluntary testing, prevention, counseling, and a comprehensive therapy of anti-retroviral medications for both mother and child, beginning before delivery, and continuing after delivery. This combination has proven extremely effective in preventing transmission of the HIV virus."
"Second, in places with weaker health care systems, we'll provide testing and counseling, and we will support programs that administer a single dose of nevirapine to the mother at the time of delivery, and at least one dose to the infant shortly after birth. This therapy reduces the chances of infection by nearly 50 percent."
"Third, and most importantly, we will make a major effort to improve the health care delivery systems in targeted countries. This will allow more women and babies to receive the comprehensive therapy. It will allow for better and longer treatment and care of all AIDS victims. And it will lead to better health care in general for all the country's citizens."
"We'll help build better health care systems by pairing hospitals in America and hospitals in Africa, so that African hospitals can gain more expertise in administering effective AIDS programs. We'll also send volunteer medical professionals from the United States to assist and train their African counterparts. And we will recruit and pay African medical and graduate students to provide testing, treatment and care."
"This major commitment of my government to prevent mother-to- child HIV transmission is the first of this scale by any government, anywhere. In time, we will gain valuable experience, improve treatment methods, and sharpen our training strategies. Health care systems in targeted countries will get better. And this will make even more progress possible. And as we see what works, we will make more funding available."
This move comes in response to a cross-party campaign in the US Congress to increase US funding for global responses to AIDS, in which conservatives such as Jesse Helms, the North Carolina Republican Senator responsible for legislation excluding people with HIV from entering the USA, have been active. Senator Bill Frist, a Republican medical doctor who has visited hospitals treating people with HIV in Africa, had sponsored an amendment to an anti-terrorism bill which would have provided an even larger amount of money to preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV, possibly through the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.
While the USA is the largest single contributor to the Global Fund, campaigners observe that overall US foreign aid to impoverished countries is around one third of the level given by Britain and less than one sixth of the level agreed internationally as a target (0.7% of GNP).
In a related move, the US drug company Abbott Laboratories has announced a donation programme that will provide up to 20 million of its Determine HIV rapid HIV antibody test kits over a five year period. These will be free of charge to countries in Africa and in the World Bank's "Least Developed Countries" categories for testing women in antenatal clinics. This is being coordinated with Boehringer Ingelheim's nevirapine donation programme, as it will be run on Abbott's behalf by the Axios Consulting Group, based in Ireland, which is already providing nevirapine on behalf of Boehringer.
Further details from Axios International at this site which describes the existing Boehringer Ingelheim donation programme.
The Abbott news release, which also announces price reductions on lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra) and ritonavir (Norvir) for use in Africa and least developed countries, can be read here.
The full text of the White House news release is available here.