Health News
Obama boosts US domestic AIDS spending
Dec 1, 2011, 17:00 GMT
Washington - US President Barack Obama said Thursday on World AIDS Day that he would increase spending on AIDS programmes in the country by 50 million dollars.
The federal government will spend an additional 35 million dollars on state programmes that help patients purchase AIDS medication and 15 million dollars for medical clinics, Obama said in a speech at George Washington University.
'We can beat this disease. We can win this fight,' Obama said, pointing to ongoing US efforts abroad that have expanded access to antiretroviral drugs.
He stressed that more must be done, particularly to fight higher rates of the disease among US minority communities, including gay black men, Latinos and black women.
Obama, who has come under frequent criticism for not doing enough to fight the disease, defended his record and said the US would step up its efforts to target getting treatment to 6 million people by the end of 2013.
The statement did not say if the funding increase was a one-time boost or a plan to increase funding annually.
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