Bush Visits AIDS Service Organization in Uganda

Comments on positive effects of USAID-funded effort

Entebbe - President Bush and his wife Laura toured one of Africa's largest HIV/AIDS service organizations in Uganda, a country the President has repeatedly praised for it's "highly successful" programs to prevent, as well as treat, the disease that threatens to rob the continent of its future.

Flying into Entebbe from Pretoria on July 11, the last full day of his July 7-12 tour of five African nations, Bush met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who had visited the White House in June. Bush had praised Museveni then, saying, "Mr.President, you have shown extraordinary leadership on HIV/AIDS in your country. You have shown the world what is possible, and I want to congratulate you for that leadership."

Now Bush and a high-powered delegation that included Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice have come to Uganda to see for themselves the progress the Museveni government was making in the battle against the disease that had first made orphans of the major portion of the nation's youth and still threatens them with death.

The AIDS Support Organization (TASO) center that Bush and his delegation toured during this brief stop in Entebbe is one of seven centers in Uganda that provides counseling and basic medical services to 30,000 clients a year. It was established in 1987 with help from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Since its inception, TASO has provided medical care, food aid, and social support services to more than 75,000 infected people and their families as well as 200,000 orphaned children who were left physically and emotionally vulnerable because of the disease that killed their parents.

At the end of the tour, Bush expressed his admiration for the work done at the clinic, "This is such a land of hope in the heart of Africa. Today I met generals worldwide in the army in the fight" against HIV/AIDS. "You have provided a model of care...and given hope to all those across Africa."

Bush agreed with President Museveni that "Governments have to lead" in the war against AIDS and President Museveni is in the forefront of using a preventative approach to AIDS and "the results are magnificent." He added, "You are not alone in this fight. America has decided to act." Specifically, he said, the United States will spend billions of dollars in the next five years to help Africa fight the AIDS scourge.

According to a fact sheet provided by the White House, the United States "has supported Uganda's aggressive and highly successful programs to combat HIV/AIDS with more than $100 million in HIV/AIDS-related support to Uganda since 1988. U.S. government agencies are working with Ugandan experts on groundbreaking projects, including the development of an HIV vaccine and home delivery of anti-retroviral therapy."

Bush also praised Museveni's program of economic reforms, citing his strong advocacy "of free trade because you understand the benefits of trade. My Administration supports AGOA (the African Growth and Opportunity Act) and the promises and opportunities that AGOA brings."

Commercial ties between the United States and Uganda have increased in recent years, according to the White House. Under AGOA, Ugandan products enjoy preferential access to U.S. markets and now two-way trade amounts to $38 million in 2002.

On another important topic, regional security, Bush said, "Your country is strategically located in the heart of Africa,' which draws the nation into many disputes. "You have done an excellent job," Bush said, "of using your prestige and your position to help resolve those disputes. And we -- I -- will continue to work with you to bring peace on the continent."