Security concerns and the increasingly likely military confrontation with Iraq dominated President George W. Bush's State of the Union Address on January 28. However, AIDS received its greatest prominence ever in such a presidential address.
The teaser came in the introductory moments when Bush said, "We have the opportunity to save millions of lives abroad from a terrible disease." The delivery came about halfway through the speech, immediately before focusing on terrorism and Iraq.
"Today, on the continent of Africa, nearly 30 million people have the AIDS virus - including three million children under the age of 15. There are whole countries in Africa where more than one-third of the adult population carries the infection. More than four million require immediate drug treatment. Yet across that continent, only 50,000 AIDS victims - only 50,000 - are receiving the medicine they need."
Bush noted that the cost of combination therapy within those impoverished countries "has dropped from $12,000 a year to under $300 a year - which places a tremendous possibility within our grasp."
"Ladies and gentlemen, seldom has history offered a greater opportunity to do so much for so many. We have confronted and will continue to confront AIDS in our own country. And to meet a severe and urgent crisis abroad, tonight I propose the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief."
The combination of prevention and therapy will "treat at least two million people." He asked Congress "to commit 15 billion dollars over the next five years, including nearly ten billion dollars in new money, to turn the tide against AIDS in the most affected nations in Africa and the Caribbean."
Further details of the program are likely to be revealed Friday, January 31, in an anticipated afternoon meeting with the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS.
Patrick Guerriero, executive director of Log Cabin Republicans, said that the Plan and pending appointments of new members to the Council make it "clear that the Bush administration is fully committed to combating HIV/AIDS here and across the world." He said that his organization was committed to lobbying Congress and the administration "to insure this fight is focused, fully funded, and ultimately successful."
Paul Davis, with ACT UP Philadelphia, has been one of the most fervent advocates for access to treatment for Africa. That advocacy has led to his arrest outside the White House. Davis had only kind words for the speech. "Tonight, we applaud the President for acting to address the plague of AIDS in Africa, and we are particularly encouraged by his focus on getting treatment for 2 million people."
"The President's announcement is a tremendously encouraging sign that he is taking this issue seriously, not just on a rhetorical level, but in terms of the budget," said Paul Zeitz, executive director of the Global AIDS Alliance. "We are especially delighted he so clearly recognized the urgent need for cost-effective AIDS treatment."
Andrew Sullivan wrote on his blog: Bush in his address "made me question again my more pragmatic concerns about the feasibility of HIV treatment and prevention in Africa and shamed me into realizing I should be far more optimistic in the attempt to tackle this issue."