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FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
LS-707I am honored to be here today at Hope Worldwide to learn how your community is mobilizing to fight HIV/AIDS.
The community-base work of HOPE Worldwide here in Soweto is essential if we are to succeed in confronting HIV/AIDS. The United States has developed a strong relationship with HOPE Worldwide. I am pleased to announce today, that we are expanding this partnership with a new $5 million agreement with the Baragwanath Hospital which, in collaboration with Hope Worldwide, will develop community programs to minimize the impact of HIV/AIDS here in Soweto. The Baragwanath Hospital's focus on women, among whom infection rates are increasing fastest, is particularly crucial.
HIV/AIDS is not just a health problem. Quite simply, AIDS is an economic and financial development as well. By attacking people in the most productive years, the death and illnesses caused by HIV/AIDS is affecting economic prosperity and threatening South Africa's reconstruction.
As many of you know, in South Africa, HIV/AIDS is projected to reduce average life expectancy from about 60 years to around 40 years by 2008 if current trends continue. In 1999, approximately 23 percent of pregnant women in antenatal clinics tested positive for HIV. While the statistics are startling, they cannot come close to capturing the human tragedy of children grieving for dead parents.
This agreement further represents President Clinton's effort to aggressively address HIV/AIDS. U.S. support for international AIDS initiatives for fiscal year 2000 totaled $225 million. We are seeking an additional $100 million this year.