On Wednesday, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa called on the US Senate to pass legislation reauthorizing the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. The House-passed bill calls for $50 billion over five years, more than triple the $15 billion approved for PEPFAR in 2003.
"You have already saved millions of lives," Tutu said in a conference call arranged by the Global AIDS Alliance. "And the new legislation has the potential for sustaining a response, to build on all of the gains that have already been achieved."
President Bush initially proposed doubling the program to $30 billion, but in April the Democratic-led House boosted it to $50 billion. The measure has stalled in the Senate due to opposition from Sen. Tom Coburn and others, who have called for more of the money to go toward HIV/AIDS treatment rather than prevention and other purposes.
Tutu said he has written letters to Senate leaders saying he is troubled by the impasse and asking them to redouble their efforts to bring the bill to the Senate floor for a vote.
"I plead to the leaders, the members of Congress - please, please for the sake of the world, for the sake of the future, expedite the passing of the relevant legislation," said Tutu.
06/18/08
Archbishop Tutu Urges US Senate to Pass AIDS Bill
Source: Reuters:: Will Dunham; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention