THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                            (Abuja, Nigeria)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                     August 27,2000

FACT SHEET

     The United States and Nigeria:   Joining Forces to Fight AIDS
                        And Infectious Diseases

Today, at the National Center for Women Development in Abuja, Nigeria, President Clinton announced more than $20 million to support President Obasanjo's aggressive campaigns against malaria, polio and HIV/AIDS, and recognized President Obasanjo's extraordinary efforts to mobilize other African leaders in these battles.

President Clinton and President Obasanjo pledged to join forces to fight HIV/AIDS and other devastating diseases. Joined by youth groups, people living with AIDS, religious leaders, business leaders, unions, women's groups, and the military, Presidents Clinton and Obasanjo reinforced the need for leadership, resources and action by all segments of society to combat HIV/AIDS. The two leaders highlighted and praised the efforts of Nigeria's non-governmental organizations, including the Society of Women Against AIDS in Nigeria, the Muslim Sisters Organization and the Nigerian Network of People Living with AIDS

The Clinton-Gore Administration's commitments to Nigeria include: -- $9.4 million in FY 2000 for HIV/AIDS prevention and care, including care of orphans;
-- $8.7 million in FY 2000 for polio eradication to support Nigeria's participation in Africa's largest-ever coordinated public health initiative
-- the vaccination of every child under age five in 17 West and Central African countries;
-- $2 million in FY 2000 for a new public-private partnership to produce insecticide-treated bednets to prevent malaria; -- $500,000 in the FY 2001 budget request for a Department of Labor program to initiate workplace-based HIV/AIDS education and prevention; and
-- A new Department of Defense effort to assist with HIV/AIDS prevention, training, and education of Nigerian defense forces.

These announcements build on the Clinton-Gore Administration's aggressive response to global disease challenges, including the launching of the LIFE Initiative (Leadership and Investment in Fighting an Epidemic) to combat HIV/AIDS.

• President Clinton is asking Congress for an increase of $100 million -- to $342 million -- for international AIDS prevention and care in FY 2001, more than double the FY 99 level. Funds will be targeted to the countries where the disease is most widespread, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Priorities include: stepped up primary AIDS prevention efforts; care and treatment for those infected; care for children orphaned by AIDS, and strengthening the public health infrastructure that can prevent and control the disease. The United States has invested more than $1.4 billion in international AIDS programs since the start of the epidemic.
• On January 10, 2000, Vice President Gore chaired the first-ever United Nations Security Panel session on a health issue -- HIV/AIDS as an international security threat.
• On May 10, 2000, the President signed an Executive Order to help make HIV/AIDS-related drugs and medical technologies more affordable and accessible in beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries. Last month, the pharmaceutical industry announced an initiative to reduce prices for anti-retroviral drugs for developing countries.
• The Peace Corps announced that all 2,400 Peace Corps volunteers serving in 25 countries in Africa will be trained as educators of HIV/AIDS prevention and care.
• In his State of the Union address, President Clinton announced the Millennium Vaccine Initiative to accelerate the development of malaria, TB, and AIDS vaccines -- vaccines for which there is an enormous need, but little market incentive for industry to develop. The initiative calls for:
  • $50 million in the President's FY2001 budget as a contribution to the vaccine purchase fund of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI);
  • Presidential leadership to ensure that the World Bank and other multilateral development banks dedicate an additional $400 million to $900 million annually of their low-interest rate loans to health care services;
  • significant increases in basic research on diseases that affect developing nations; and
  • $1 billion tax credit for sales of vaccines for malaria, TB and AIDS to accelerate their development and production.
• This year, the Clinton-Gore Administration contributed $120 million to the international campaign to eradicate polio.
• The Clinton-Gore Administration made global AIDS and infectious diseases a top priority at the U.S.-European Union Summit in Portugal in May and last month's G-8 Summit in Okinawa, where billions were mobilized from G-8 partners.

Facts on HIV/AIDS and other Infectious Diseases in Developing Countries: -- Last year, AIDS killed 2.8 million people worldwide and is now the single leading cause of death in Africa; an estimated 5.4 % of Nigerians -- 2.6 million people -- are currently infected with AIDS; -- Thirteen million sub-Saharan African children -- 1.4 million in Nigeria -- have now lost one or both of their parents to AIDS. -- Over 8 million children die each year of illnesses like malaria, TB, and diarrheal diseases -- more than 3 million of these deaths could be prevented by existing vaccines.
-- Malaria is the leading killer of children in Africa, taking more than 1 million lives each year. Malaria costs Africa more than $12 billion annually.
-- Polio has been eradicated from much of the world; however, more than 20 countries still report the disease. Last year there were 6000 new cases, nearly 1000 in Nigeria alone. -- Immunization is one of the most cost effective health interventions. It costs only $15 to immunize a child, yet in developing countries, children remain 10 times more likely to die of a vaccine preventable disease than those in the industrialized world. Twenty percent of children worldwide lack access to basic immunization services.

# # #