All Caribbean countries now included in US funding to fight HIV/AIDS
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| Published on Friday, April 4, 2008 |
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By Susan Mann
Caribbean Net News US Virgin Islands Correspondent
Email: susan@caribbeannetnews.com
ST THOMAS, USVI: Hailing it as a major boost in the fight against the devastation of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean, US Virgin Islands Delegate to Congress Donna Christensen applauded Wednesday’s passage of the US Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act.
The measure, also known as PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), which passed the US House of Representatives by a vote of 308 to 116, funds the Bush administration’s efforts to fight AIDS and other diseases in Africa.
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| USVI Delegate to Congress Donna M. Christensen |
Christensen, who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus’s Health Braintrust and who co-sponsored the amendment to include the Caribbean along with Congresspersons Luis Fortuno of Puerto Rico, Yvette Clarke of New York, Donald Payne of New Jersey and Barbara Lee of California, expressed her appreciation to President Bush for his willingness to expand the funding that made coverage of the Caribbean region possible.
Speaking on the House floor on Wednesday, Congresswoman Christensen said that the Caribbean region, in particular Haiti and Guyana, remain in desperate need of assistance in battling against HIV/AIDS.
“In the Caribbean today, AIDS is one of the leading causes of death among adults aged 15-44 years of age,” she said.
“This is a disturbing reality because AIDS is taking its ultimate toll on Caribbean residents during their most productive life years, compromising the economic, social and political growth and stability of many Caribbean nations,” Congresswoman Christensen said.
She added that the region is further challenged by the mobility of its population. “Many Caribbean nations absorb millions of dollars in debt every year providing treatment and care not only to their residents with HIV, but to all individuals on their shore seeking HIV/AIDS care and treatment.”
Congressman Donald Payne, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, thanked Christensen for her leadership in rallying Caribbean health ministers to support the Caribbean amendment, as far back as at the Inter-American Economic Council’s Summit on HIV/AIDS held on St. Croix in January of 2007.
Christensen thanked Congressman Fortuno for introducing the legislation and shepherding the Caribbean amendment through the committee process, ensuring that it became part of the bill. She also thanked Congressman Charles Rangel who started the process four years ago. “Their leadership has made it possible,” she said. |
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