WASHINGTON, May 30 (UPI) -- U.S. President George W. Bush urged the U.S. Congress Wednesday to approve a $30 billion plan to fight AIDS for the first five years he is out of office.
The increase in the President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief would double the current monetary commitment to the program, allowing it to increase the number of people receiving treatment under the program by 1.4 million to 2.5 million, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.
The plan would extend the program past its September 2008 expiration date for five years.
Bush also announced Wednesday that first lady Laura Bush plans to travel to Africa in June to visit beneficiaries of the program in Zambia, Mali, Mozambique and Senegal.
AIDS advocates welcomed the report.
"We think a doubling is definitely in order," Paul Zeitz, executive director of the Global AIDS Alliance told the Post. "I would call it bold action. Is it enough? No. Do we have to have better policies? Yes. But PEPFAR is still a breakthrough and has had a significant impact."
