While the Kenyan village of Uranga was once overwhelmed by HIV/AIDS, President George W. Bush’s PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) has drastically improved the lives of HIV-positive individuals in the village and throughout sub-Saharan Africa, reports the Los Angeles Times(latimes.com, 2/15). The program has also helped to prevent new infections.
Tonight, Bush leaves for a six-day tour of the African continent to highlight PEPFAR’s success in villages such as Uranga and garner support in Congress for a proposed $30 billion five-year budget for the program, which currently provides 1.4 million sub-Saharan Africans with lifesaving antiretroviral medications.
According to the Times, PEPFAR has saved more than 57,000 lives in Kenya alone and currently provides more than 70 percent of the nation’s HIV medications. However, AIDS remains the number-one cause of death in Kenya, killing over 80,000 people in the country each year.
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"I'm HIV positive and diabetic (as well as have high cholesterol) and some of my meds specify taking them with 'high fat foods' which I have to do twice a day. I've eaten as healthy as possible, but when it comes to high fat foods, I am in a quandary...about what to eat sometimes..."
