World AIDS Day, 2002

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7631 of November 27, 2002

World AIDS Day, 2002

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

The HIV/AIDS pandemic has taken the lives of more than
20 million people and is projected to take millions
more. On World AIDS Day, countries around the world are
united to support the individuals, families, and
communities affected by this disease, and to renew our
commitment to preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS,
developing and delivering more effective treatments,
and finding a cure.

To support our struggle against HIV/AIDS, we must call
upon the compassion, energy, and generosity of all
people. Through their service and dedication, faith-
based and volunteer organizations are providing local
and global communities with strategies to confront the
HIV/AIDS pandemic. By responding to the needs of their
neighbors, these organizations and individual citizens
offer invaluable support and hope to countless people.
These organizations also help overcome dangerous
barriers to HIV prevention, care, and treatment such as
the stigma and discrimination that often attaches to
those suffering from HIV/AIDS. By raising awareness and
promoting acceptance of people living with HIV/AIDS, we
help improve the lives of millions of people around the
world and demonstrate the compassion of our Nation.

My Administration remains strongly committed to
supporting research that treats those living with HIV/
AIDS, prevents the spread of this disease, and that can
develop a cure. For this coming year, my Administration
has requested $2.9 billion for research on vaccines and
treatments to combat the disease. This is a significant
increase over prior year funding for these efforts, and
expresses my Administration's commitment to helping
find a cure.

To help stop the global spread of AIDS we must prevent
mothers from passing the HIV virus to their children.
My Administration has committed $500 million to the new
International Mother and Child HIV Prevention
Initiative, which will focus on countries in Africa and
the Caribbean where the problem is the most severe.
This Initiative seeks to treat 1 million women annually
and to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS
by 40 percent within 5 years. It also increases the
availability of preventative care and drug treatment
therapy, and seeks to improve critical healthcare
delivery systems. The International Mother and Child
Prevention Initiative will save thousands of lives, and
assist our vital effort to overcome the global
devastation of HIV/AIDS.

The United States intends to provide more than $1.3
billion in 2003 to international efforts to combat HIV/
AIDS, a 30 percent increase over the prior year's
commitment. I was very pleased to help launch the
Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and
Malaria together with U.N. Secretary-General Annan and
Nigerian President Obasanjo. My Administration has
since then pledged $500 million to the Global Fund, and
we are committed to further support the Fund as it
continues to demonstrate its success.

On World AIDS Day, I urge world leaders and citizens to
join the efforts to combat HIV/AIDS. By working
together, we can provide hope and comfort to all those
affected by this devastating disease.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United
States, do hereby proclaim December 1, 2002, as World
AIDS Day. I invite the Governors of the States and the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, officials of other
territories subject to the jurisdiction of the United
States, and the American people to join me in
reaffirming our commitment to combating HIV/AIDS. I
encourage all Americans to participate in appropriate
commemorative programs and ceremonies in houses of
worship, workplaces, and other community centers to
remember those who have lost their lives to this deadly
disease and to comfort and support those living with
and impacted by HIV/AIDS.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord
two thousand two, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and twenty-seventh.

(Presidential Sig.)B