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Bush names global aids coordinator
Washington, July 03: Days before leaving on awhirlwind trip to Africa, president George W. Bush tappedformer drug company executive Randall Tobias to coordinateglobal US policy to fight HIV/AIDS.
Washington, July 03: Days before leaving on a
whirlwind trip to Africa, president George W. Bush tapped
former drug company executive Randall Tobias to coordinate
global US policy to fight HIV/AIDS.
"Millions of lives depend on the success of this effort,
and we are determined to succeed", Bush said in a White House
ceremony announcing the appointment, which requires US senate
approval.
Tobias, who served as chairman and chief executive officer of Eli Lilly and left the pharmaceutical giant in 1998, will oversee Bush`s 15-billion-dollar programme to battle the spread of the disease in Africa and the Caribbean.
Bush leaves monday for a whirlwind trip to Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda, and Nigeria before returning here July 12. Exact dates of his stops in each country have not been released. "When I visit Africa I will reaffirm our nation`s commitment to helping Africans fight this disease", said the president, who noted that he would meet with African leaders and activists fighting the spread of the deadly illness.
"They deserve our praise. They deserve our help, without delay. And they will have our help", he said.
The president signed the emergency AIDS spending package measure into law in late may, citing a "moral duty to act", but the initiative`s impact is unclear because the US Congress must allocate the funds in yearly budgets.
Instead, the new law allows the US government to spend three billion dollars a year through 2008 to provide treatment and preventive care to those suffering from the disease and those in danger of contracting the virus.
Bureau Report
Tobias, who served as chairman and chief executive officer of Eli Lilly and left the pharmaceutical giant in 1998, will oversee Bush`s 15-billion-dollar programme to battle the spread of the disease in Africa and the Caribbean.
Bush leaves monday for a whirlwind trip to Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda, and Nigeria before returning here July 12. Exact dates of his stops in each country have not been released. "When I visit Africa I will reaffirm our nation`s commitment to helping Africans fight this disease", said the president, who noted that he would meet with African leaders and activists fighting the spread of the deadly illness.
"They deserve our praise. They deserve our help, without delay. And they will have our help", he said.
The president signed the emergency AIDS spending package measure into law in late may, citing a "moral duty to act", but the initiative`s impact is unclear because the US Congress must allocate the funds in yearly budgets.
Instead, the new law allows the US government to spend three billion dollars a year through 2008 to provide treatment and preventive care to those suffering from the disease and those in danger of contracting the virus.
Bureau Report