U.S.: $80M for more anti-AIDS work

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WASHINGTON, July 23 (UPI) -- The United States pledged $80 million in new funding for global efforts to combat AIDS, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Monday.

The United States is committed to "an AIDS-free generation," Clinton said during the International AIDS Conference in Washington. "The United States is committed and will remain committed to achieving an AIDS-free generation. We will not back off; we will not back down; we will fight for the resources necessary to achieve this historic milestone."

She said the new money would go toward voluntary circumcisions for men, several research and civil projects, and support treatments for pregnant women with human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS.

If an AIDS-free generation is to become a reality, "we also must address the needs of the people who are at the highest risk of contracting HIV," Clinton said.

"Now over the years, I have seen and experienced how difficult it can be to talk about a disease that is transmitted the way that AIDS," she said. "But if we're going to beat AIDS, we can't afford to avoid sensitive conversations, and we can't fail to reach the people who are at the highest risk."

The conference began Sunday and ends Friday.