World AIDS Day 2002 Event

UNDER SECRETARY DOBRIANSKY: Your excellencies, Secretary Powell, Secretary Thompson, Dr. O'Neill, Members of Congress, distinguished guests, good morning. I am Paula Dobriansky. I am the Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs.

Last May, in announcing the first contribution by a government to The Global Fund, President Bush said, "We have the power to help." The United States has committed to working with other nations to reduce suffering and to spare lives. And working together is the key. Only through sustained and focused international cooperation can we address problems so grave and suffering so great.

And that is why we have invited you here today. For tackling the AIDS pandemic requires a sustained global effort and leadership. Many U.S. agencies and departments carry out President Bush's policies in the worldwide campaign against AIDS. These include the White House, the State Department, the United States Agency for International Development, the Department of Health and Human Services, including the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Defense Department, the Department of Labor, and others, all working together to make a difference. They work closely with the Congress and with the diplomatic community.

I also would like to acknowledge the presence here today of Dr. Richard Feachum, the Executive Director of The Global Fund, to which the United States is fully committed. So, to mark World AIDS Day 2002, it is an honor and privilege for me to introduce our three speakers this morning: Secretary of State Colin Powell, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, and the Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, Dr. Joe O'Neill. Secretary Powell will speak first, and then introduce Governor Thompson. Thank you.

Please join me in welcoming Secretary Powell.

(Applause.)

SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Paula. And good morning ladies and gentlemen, your excellencies, Director O'Neill, Dr. Feachum, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Ben Franklin Room and to the Department of State. My colleague Secretary Thompson and I are pleased to co-host this distinguished gathering of the diplomatic community in recognition of World AIDS Day.

In his World AIDS Day proclamation, President Bush urged all Americans to join men and women across the globe in coming together to combat this dreaded disease. He urged world leaders and citizens to join the efforts to combat HIV/AIDS and to work together, he said, to provide hope and comfort to all those affected by this devastating disease.

In the global fight against AIDS, every nation, large or small, developed or developing, must be a leader. For every nation is vulnerable. No nation is protected by geography or by political boundaries or social boundaries or religious boundaries. AIDS will attack us all and is attacking us all. AIDS is ravaging communities, countries, continents. Left to rage, it can rob us all of a more stable, prosperous, hopeful future.

Each of us here today and the power to act. The positions we hold in our governments give our voices resonance at home and abroad. We can and must use our voices to convince others of the urgency and gravity of this global problem.

The statistics are well known to all of us, but they are chilling at every re-telling: 42 million people now live with HIV/AIDS. Tens of millions are at high risk of infection. An estimated 8,500 people die every day. That's six people every minute.

When millions are struck down, countless millions more of their family members, of their friends, of their co-workers, feel the blow, both emotional and economic. There are 14 million AIDS orphans in the world. Unless we stem the pandemic, the number will swell to 25 million by the end of this decade.

Some of you may have been seeing this public service announcement on television over the last week or two, of children, young children aged two, three four, walking through an empty village or an empty street on an empty city, illustrating vividly what happens when these children are left as orphans and no one is there to care for them, to educate them, to give them hope, to give them a promise of a better life.

These appalling statistics only begin to measure the magnitude of the destruction. HIV doesn't just destroy immune systems; it also undermines the social, economic and political systems that underpin entire nations and regions. And the disease spreads fastest in places under stress, weakening already fragile support systems beyond the breaking point, causing whole societies to begin to shudder and reach the edge of collapse.

For the first time, women account for half of all adult cases. And women are the ultimate glue that holds families, cultures and communities together.

Every one of us here can help to ensure that AIDS is a top priority for the world's governments and our international community. One of the most effective ways to do that is by encouraging political leaders and opinion shapers at all levels of our societies to speak out. It is critically important that accurate, life-saving information reaches all of the people in our countries.

Like all great evils, AIDS feeds on ignorance and fear. When people lack knowledge of how infections can be prevented, and when those infected are stigmatized and driven into the shadows, the virus thrives, and hope withers. Consigning the disease to silence means condemning more and more of our citizens to their deaths. There can be no taboos, no sensitivities; the crisis is too real, too great for that.

All of us have a responsibility to send the message that the virus is the enemy, not the men, not the women, and above all, not the innocent children who contract it. We have the responsibility to send the message that people living with AIDS should not be treated with cruelty and discrimination, but with dignity and with compassion.

A crucial element of leadership is the vision and skill to forge partnerships among governments and between the state and the private sector, and with faith-based organizations as well. We must also build partnerships across cultural and class lines, between individuals and institutions, and between those who live with the disease and their fellow citizens. Together, we can help to break the vicious cycle of the disease by widening the circle of those who receive preventative education, medical treatment and compassionate care.

Experience shows that major inroads against the disease can be made when all elements of society work together. In Uganda, President Museveni has made it a point to speak out about AIDS at every opportunity and he has made all of his ministers, not just his health minister, responsible and accountable for results. The Ugandan Government nourished grassroots efforts, and those efforts are flourishing. The infection rate in Uganda has fallen by 50 percent since 1992.

Cambodia is the Asian country with the highest percentage of adults with HIV; yet thanks to sustained prevention programs that link government and nongovernmental organizations, Cambodia has reduced high-risk behaviors and stabilized the rate of infection.

In the 1980s, the World Bank predicted that 1.2 million Brazilians would be infected by HIV today. But due to enlightened policies, leaders doing something about that statistic, doing something by fighting discrimination, through public-private cooperation, the number of HIV-positive Brazilians is one-half of the number that had been projected.

There are so many other examples one could give of enlightened leadership around the world taking on this task, but we need enlightened leadership everywhere in the world to take on this task.

I am proud that President Bush and the members of his administration are taking on this task and trying to be leaders in this effort against HIV/AIDS. I am proud that the United States was the first country to pledge support for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which Dr. Feachum so ably leads. The United States continues to be the largest single contributor to the Fund. Our $500 million pledge has attracted $1.6 billion more from others to date. And as the Fund proves its success, President Bush has pledged to work with Congress to increase the level of our support. And I am pleased within the last few days that the Fund has reached agreements to disburse its first three grants -- to Tanzania, Haiti and Ghana.

The United States also remains the world's largest contributor to worldwide AIDS research, as well as the largest contributor to bilateral programs with nations to combat the disease. Our efforts are increasing and intensifying. The mother-to-child transmission program, announced by President Bush this summer, will provide $500 million for work in an initial 14 countries.

And I want to assure you that I have made this a priority for every one of our ambassadors overseas. This must be a priority for every leader in the Bush Administration and it is a priority, whether you are here in Washington or leading one of our missions anywhere in the world.

In the fight against AIDS, each of your countries will find a strong and willing partner in the United States of America. As men and women all around the globe mark World AIDS Day with renewed pledges of commitment, may we in the diplomatic community strengthen our own resolve to replace ignorance with information, shame with support, and helplessness with hope.

And now I am very pleased to introduce the gentleman who serves at the forefront of President Bush's campaign against AIDS, my good friend, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson.

(Applause.)

SECRETARY THOMPSON: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, your excellencies, Members from Congress, and you, Secretary Powell, for that wonderful and kind introduction of me. Let me just say at the outset that Colin Powell is not only the leader of the diplomatic corps, he is also a leader in so many issues, and this issue on AIDS is one that he is passionate about. I thank him for his leadership, his convictions and his dedications, and I thank him so much for inviting us all here today.

Dr. Feachum, it is a pleasure to welcome you to the United States. Congratulations on the job that you are doing. We wish you nothing but the best.

And let me welcome everyone here. It is a pleasure to see our friends from the diplomatic corps and throughout the United States, government leaders who have gathered together for a common cause. It is a cause that is vital to every one of our nations.

We are here to commemorate World AIDS Day. HIV/AIDS is one of the most serious challenges facing humanity. No country has been spared. Some, like Botswana, have faced widespread devastation. All have families whose lives have been destroyed by this horrible disease.

The problem of AIDS is real, but the solution can be found within each and every one of us. And it is in our ability to bring fresh ideas and fresh thinking to the challenge of AIDS. As the noted AIDS educator and advocate Mary Fisher once said, "In the face of stigma and hopelessness, daunting challenges and desperate need, it is my prayer that we will, each one of us, wake to a day with courage. It would be a remarkably good morning if we begin not by wondering what others have done about AIDS, but by asking, `What can I do?'"

My friends, we will and we are. Our commitment to ending this pandemic is strong. Our commitment is unwavering. Our commitment is unprecedented. The United States, under the great leadership of President Bush, has increased overall AIDS spending from $14 billion in 2001, to more than $16 billion for next year. It also includes a doubling in our funding for international AIDS funding over the same period.

We are strongly committed to supporting The Global Fund and Dr. Feachum and all the other members to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. President Bush has requested $500 million for The Global Fund and we are confident this Fund will remain viable, vital and very strong into the future.

We have created another program that I am passionate about. President Bush has announced the program, that the Department of Health and Human Services and USAID are together on. It is the Mother and Child Transmission Prevention Initiative, a $500 million program that will prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS from mothers to infants and improve health care systems in 12 African nations and the Caribbean. It will be able to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, once it gets going, to at least 40 percent of individuals in Africa.

In discussing HIV/AIDS, it is going to be and would be a grave mistake to simply boil our efforts down to dollar figures on a ledger chart, a mere recitation of billions spent. Really, that loses sight of our ultimate goal. That ultimate goal is saving lives.

Let me share another number with you, a number that speaks directly to why every nation, and why we as a global community, must reaffirm our commitment to fighting AIDS. By 2010, an estimated 44 million children around the world will have lost both parents to AIDS. That is almost too painful to contemplate. The depth and the breadth of that tragedy, of the indescribable pain, was brought home to me in April when I led a delegation of our nation's elected officials, scientists, NGOs and others to four African nations. While in South Africa we visited an orphanage where all the children there wanted from us was one simple thing: to be picked up and to be hugged and loved. It was heart-wrenching and never was it more clear to me that we as a nation, we as a global community, must do more. It is a social, it is a moral, it is a political -- and yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is a personal obligation.

We must have the political will and courage to fight on and we must encourage others to make this fight a priority. The millions of people we have lost to this disease and their loved ones deserve nothing less. The United States is well aware that investing in global health is not only a matter of increasing economic growth or improving political stability; it will help us do nothing less than save the next generation. There can be fewer higher callings for all of us as a civilized society.

Let me reiterate: The United States will continue to provide unmatched money, expertise and research to battle HIV/AIDS. It is time that we all work together as partners to end this terrible scourge that is tearing apart families, communities, countries and even continents.

Thank you very much. And now, ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to introduce a good friend, a person that has been in this fight for a long time, has been one of the leaders, one of the early leaders and continues to fight. He was running the AIDS Policy Program at the Department of Health and Human Services and was doing such a wonderful job that the White House decided to take him over to the White House, where he continues his fight, his efforts. He's doing an excellent job and it's my privilege to introduce Dr. Joe O'Neill.

(Applause.)

DR. O'NEILL: Good morning. Thank you, Secretary Thompson, for that kind introduction. Secretary Powell, ambassadors, Members of Congress, distinguished guests, colleagues and friends, I bring you all greetings from President Bush on this very, very important day.

The President wants you all to know how important HIV/AIDS is to both him personally, as well as to his administration. The administration will not waiver in our commitment to link hands around the world and with communities in this country to fight this terrible epidemic and this scourge, this disease. In his proclamation on World AIDS Day, this year, President Bush emphasized the important role that community-based and faith-based organizations can play, and must play, in fighting stigma and discrimination attendant on this disease.

I want to tell you a brief story about a patient of mine. This is a woman who lives in Baltimore, which is a city just north of here, and in many ways she is very typical of this epidemic in the United States. She is an African American woman of about 40 years. I was in clinic several weeks ago and the nurse asked me if I would see her. She didn't have an appointment, but she showed up at clinic and was very, very upset. She is not my patient, I did not know her, but I, of course, said that I would squeeze her in between other patients.

I went out to the waiting room to greet her, and I found this woman who was sobbing and crying in a tremendous amount of distress. So I took her back into my office and sat her down and said, "Well, let's talk about what's going on. Why are you here today?" And she told me the following story, and I want to share this with you.

She said, "Dr. O'Neill, I've been HIV-positive, as far as I know, for 13 or 14 years. I now have AIDS, and I know that I'm going to die, and I've adjusted to that. I've made my peace with my God. This is what God has asked of me in my life, to live with this disease, and I can do that, and I'm living my life and I'm helping other people."

I said, "Well, why are you so upset today?"

And she said, "Well, look at this rash that I have on my face."

Well, I have been trained to recognize and identify rashes, and I did not see it. And I looked very closely, and I could see that she had a very, very fine rash on her face, which was very easily treatable. It was just the result of one of the antibiotics, a side effect of one of the antibiotics she was on.

I said, "Well, why is this rash bothering you so much?"

And she said, "Because every time I look in the mirror, I see this rash, and I know that I have HIV disease. And I know that every time I walk down the street, everyone that looks at me also knows that I have HIV disease. And I can live with AIDS, but I can't live with that."

She was more afraid of stigma and discrimination than she was of her own death. That is very, very powerful. Think about that. She was more afraid of stigma and discrimination than she was of HIV, than she was of the suffering that she knew that she was facing in her life, than she was of leaving her children behind. Even of her own death.

This is where leadership is so important. The President and his call to national leaders in his proclamation identifies the important role that we all have to play and that we all must play. Not only in finding cures for this disease. Not only in finding ways to do prevention. Not only in reaching out in our own communities in the United States and around the world. But also in learning to live as a community of people with this illness and learning how to live with people who have this illness. We have to have a focus of our effort and we have to have a focus our vision. We have to lead with a simple and a clear message. This is a disease. This is caused by a virus. And it kills us in enormous numbers. That is enough for anyone to fear. We do not need to add the fear of stigma and discrimination on top of that.

President Bush, myself, other members of the White House staff, the cabinet and all members of this administration are committed to working with all of you across this country and across this world to do what we need to do to fight this illness. I appreciate you inviting me here today Secretary Powell, in particular. Thank you. I look forward to working with you in the future. I wish you all Godspeed in the work that you have and that we all have ahead of us. Thank you.

(Applause.)

Secretary Dobriansky.

UNDER SECRETARY DOBRIANSKY: Clearly, the United States government places a great emphasis on the pivotal role political leaders can play in fighting AIDS. We look forward to working with each and every one of you and key leaders in your countries in eradicating this scourge. I especially want to thank the staff in the protocol office and in the Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Science for arranging this event this morning. Thank you for coming.