Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008
Floor Speech
Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008
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MS. WATERS. Madam Chairman and Members, I am pleased and proud to be here today to commend not only Chairman Berman but the late Tom Lantos and Henry Hyde for their wisdom and their foresight in putting together this most important legislation.
Ladies and gentlemen, I just returned from south Africa and I am pleased to announce that while I was there, I was recognized and given the Order of the Companions of Oliver Tombo Award for my work to help dismantle apartheid in South Africa, and basically for being a friend of south Africa's. I was very proud.
But as I sat there talking with President Umbeke and others, I was reminded that in south Africa there is an estimated 5.5 million people living with HIV and AIDS. That is more than any other country in the world. Over 18 percent of the adult population of south Africa is infected by HIV. Infected persons include thousands of well-educated professionals, such as doctors, nurses, civil servants, and teachers.
In recognizing that we have done a great job in helping to promote democracy and get rid of apartheid, the enemy now is HIV and AIDS and tuberculosis. They are losing all of their professionals. They don't have the personnel to carry out the plan that they have put together to continue to move south Africa to where south Africa needs to be.
I was very proud that they had built 2.3 million new houses over the last 10 years. But, again, tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS is destroying this population. This legislation will help this country and other countries. These are our friends. They love us. And they love us for having been involved in the struggle to help save them. These are countries that we will be able to count on in the world because we have come to their aid.
Let me also recognize that there were many Americans traveling in South Africa. Those Americans who were there are being served by people who live in areas where tuberculosis and HIV is rampant.
So we need this for protection and security of all peoples.
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Ms. WATERS. Madam Chairman, I strongly support H.R. 5501, the Tom Lantos and Henry Hyde Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008. This bill authorizes $50 billion over the next five years for international health programs, including $41 billion for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, $4 billion for tuberculosis programs, and $5 billion for malaria programs.
I just returned from South Africa, where I received the ``OR Tambo Award,'' from South African President Thabo Mbeki. I received this award because of my efforts to end the brutal system of apartheid in South Africa and to obtain the release of South African anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela from prison. Apartheid was dismantled and Nelson Mandela was elected President of South Africa in 1994, when South Africa held its first democratic elections.
I was very proud to receive the OR Tambo Award because I have always been and continue to be a friend to South Africa. However, in South Africa today, the enemy is HIV/AIDS. It is estimated that 5.5 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa. That is more than any other country in the world. Over 18 percent of the adult population of South Africa is infected by HIV. Infected persons include thousands of well-educated professionals, such as doctors, nurses, civil servants and teachers.
Everywhere I went in South Africa, people told me about the terrible problem they have trying to fill professional positions. The shortage of educated professionals is a result of the fact that so many South African professionals have died of AIDS or are too sick to work.
The involvement of doctors, nurses, teachers, and other professionals is critical to stopping the spread of HIV and AIDS. That is why I am pleased that this bill includes provisions to strengthen the health care infrastructure in countries like South Africa and train at least 140,000 new health care professionals and workers for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care. The bill also includes prevention funds to stop the spread of HIV and treatment funds to allow infected individuals to live productive lives and continue to serve their communities.
It is impossible to address HIV without also addressing tuberculosis. Almost 9 million people develop tuberculosis every year. At least 2.4 million are killed by the disease. According to the World Health Organization, HIV and tuberculosis form a lethal combination, each speeding the progress of the other. In the past 15 years, tuberculosis rates have doubled in Africa overall and tripled in areas with high HIV concentrations. In some areas of Africa, up to 80 percent of tuberculosis patients also test positive for HIV. This makes tuberculosis clinics an ideal location for HIV prevention, treatment, and care.
I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill and help stop the spread of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria in South Africa and around the world.
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