For Immediate Release
February 25, 2004

Global Message

From remarks by Secretary of State Powell; Health and Human Services Secretary Thompson; USAID Administrator Natsios; and Ambassador Tobias, 2/23/04

The President made a very powerful statement to the world when he said that the United States would contribute $15 billion over a five-year period to deal with the pandemic of HIV/AIDS.

Much more has to be done, and the United States is showing bold leadership for the rest of the world on what we have to do.

We will provide unprecedented resources, but the crisis of global AIDS is so far and so vast, it's too great for any one country to solve.

President Bush continues to call on more countries to get involved with the global effort. This is a commitment that the whole world must keep.

In the State of the Union Address in 2003, President Bush called for an unprecedented act of compassion to address the ravages around the world of HIV/AIDS.

Our $15 billion commitment over five years to address this global pandemic is more money than has ever been committed before by any nation for any health initiative.

This is one of the greatest challenges of our time, and it will require a constant and concerted commitment if we are to defeat it.

The limits of what we can accomplish in eradicating AIDS and its consequences are defined only by the limits of our collective moral imagination.

Our success will be measured in the lives saved, in the families held intact, in the nations moving forward with development.