Decision Points, by Pres. George W. Bush: on Health Care

Colin Powell: Recommended $200M for UN Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS

I listened but made no commitment. I considered the UN to be cumbersome, bureaucratic, and inefficient. I was concerned that a fund composed of contributions from different countries with different interests would not spend taxpayer money in a focused or effective way.

Nevertheless, Colin Powell and HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson recommended that I support the Global Fund with an initial pledge of $200 million. They felt it would send a signal for America to be the first contributor. Their persistence overcame my skepticism. I announced our commitment in May 2001."This morning, we have made a good beginning," I said in my speech. I didn't add that I had plans to do more.

George W. Bush: PEPFAR: $15B "medical Marshall Plan" to fight AIDS in Africa

America had been given a lot, and I resolved that we would answer the call. Earlier that year I had proposed, and Congress had passed, a $15 billion initiative to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, PEPFAR, constituted the largest international healt initiative to combat a specific disease. I hoped it would serve as a medical version of the Marshall Plan. "This is my country's pledge to the people of Africa and the people of Uganda," I said at the TASO clinic. "You are not alone in this fight. America has decided to act."

In five years, the number of Africans receiving AIDS medicine had risen from 50,000 to nearly three million--more than two million of them supported by PEPFAR.

George W. Bush: 5-year $1.2B malaria-eradication program in Africa

Every one of those deaths was unnecessary. Malaria is treatable & preventable. The US had eradicated malaria in the 1950s, and there was a well-established strategy: a combination of insecticide sprays, bed nets, & medicin for infected patients. The remedies were not particularly expensive. Bed nets cost $10 each, including delivery.

In 2005, I announced a five-year, $1.2 billion program that would find malaria-eradication efforts in 15 countries. The President's Malaria Initiative would empower Africans to design strategies to meet their needs. We would work toward a measurable goal: cutting malaria mortality rates by 50% over the next five years. In its first two years, the initiative reached 11 million Africans.

Tommy Thompson: Recommended $200M for UN Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS

I listened but made no commitment. I considered the UN to be cumbersome, bureaucratic, and inefficient. I was concerned that a fund composed of contributions from different countries with different interests would not spend taxpayer money in a focused or effective way.

Nevertheless, Colin Powell and HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson recommended that I support the Global Fund with an initial pledge of $200 million. They felt it would send a signal for America to be the first contributor. Their persistence overcame my skepticism. I announced our commitment in May 2001."This morning, we have made a good beginning," I said in my speech. I didn't add that I had plans to do more.