Miller hailed the bill as a “groundbreaking” because of the substantial increase in federal funds authorized for this international health partnership. The program was originally authorized at $15 billion over five years. The new bill authorizes the program at $50 billion over the next five years.

“Today, this groundbreaking legislation sends a message to the world about America’s commitment to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS,” said Miller. “I just returned from a trip with Speaker Pelosi to India, a country in which almost 2.5 million people are suffering from and living with HIV/AIDS. The U.S. has been a partner in fighting this devastating pandemic and this bill will allow for a continuation and expansion of U.S. support to developing countries like India that are disproportionately devastated by HIV/AIDS and also by TB and malaria.”

In May 2003, on a bipartisan basis, the Congress enacted the U.S. Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act (PL 108-25) – authorizing $15 billion over five years for U.S. contributions to both bilateral and multilateral efforts. It was based on the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which he unveiled in January 2003. Over the last five years, this program has been critical, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa – for example, having provided life-saving drugs to almost 1.5 million AIDS patients and having promoted successful programs to prevent the spread of the HIV infection.

This bill reauthorizes and expands this key initiative over the next five years – authorizing $50 billion. It is a carefully-crafted compromise – worked out between House Democrats, Republicans, and the Bush Administration – that among other things, eliminates an ineffective requirement that 1/3 of PEPFAR prevention funds be spent on abstinence and focuses on a ‘balanced’ approach, requiring behavioral change programs to receive 50% of the funds devoted to the prevention of sexual transmission of HIV.

In the first five years of the U.S. response to the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, U.S. policy was driven by the urgency of an emergency response. Under this bill, the U.S. will develop and implement strategies to transition from the emergency phase to long-term sustainability that can be maintained by the host countries.

The bill’s goals include: by 2013, preventing 12 million new HIV infections; providing life-saving drugs for 3 million AIDS patients; providing medical and nonmedical care for 12 million people (including 5 million orphans); and training 140,000 new health care workers.

“I am pleased that today, once again on a strong bipartisan basis, Congress is renewing and expanding this program over the next five years,” Miller said. “The United States is showing important moral leadership by leading this global effort to work fervently to eradicate HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria from the face of the globe.”