Bush calls on Congress to increase funds for fighting AIDS

Source: International Herald Tribune

WASHINGTON: President George W. Bush has called on Congress to spend $30 million to fight global AIDS over the next five years, a near-doubling of financing that is part of a White House effort to burnish Bush’s humanitarian credentials before he meets leaders of the Group of 8 industrialized nations next week.

European critics claim that it was time the U.S. would step up to the plate. For some time, the U.S. had been giving a much lower portion of the nation’s GDP to AIDS prevention efforts compared to most developed countries. Although there is so much more that needs to be done, this is definitely a good step forward.