Washington, DC — By a voice vote, Tuesday, the House approved a US$1.3 billion one year authorization bill, the Global Access to HIV/Aids Prevention, Awareness, Education and Treatment Act (HR 2069), to fight the global epidemic through bilateral and multinational programs aimed at education, prevention, treatment and research.

The legislation authorizes the president to contribute $750m towards an eventual international Aids trust fund and another $485m in bilateral aid, mainly through non-governmental organizations, for education, treatment and prevention programs; and it endorses the spending of $50m for a pilot program to help developing countries obtain pharmaceuticals and antiviral therapies.

The total more than doubles the Bush Administration's request for $569m for bilateral and multilateral HIV/Aids funding.

The legislation has strong bipartisan support; in June it was approved with a 32-4 vote by the House International Relations Committee. Speaking from the House floor during Tuesday's 40-minute debate, Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-IL), chairman of the International Relations Committee declared: "The United States has an opportunity, and the responsibility to lead the world in confronting one of the most compelling humanitarian and moral challenges facing us today."

In Africa, Hyde said, "the disease continues to sweep forward, virtually unchecked." Citing the dramatic growth of the disease in India and the Caribbean, he added, "the disease has jumped to every continent."

United Nations estimates put the number of people infected with HIV around the world at 58m. Some 17m of the 22m Aids deaths have been in sub-Saharan Africa.