Dianne Feinstein: “looking at the scope of the HIV/AIDS tragedy, 40 million people are infected with HIV worldwide and 30 million of these…”

“looking at the scope of the HIV/AIDS tragedy, 40 million people are infected with HIV worldwide and 30 million of these people are from sub-Saharan Africa, approximately 70 percent of the world's total. As of 2001, 21.5 million Africans had died of AIDS, and at least 50 million new cases are projected by 2010 in five countries alone: China, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, and Russia. It is estimated that two-thirds of the 45 million new HIV infections expected to occur during this period could be averted with effective prevention. That is where we must go. This amendment does not aim to change the one-third earmark for abstinence until marriage. This amendment aims to provide some flexibility so that the people on the ground have the opportunity of tailoring the most effective prevention program. The way in which we do it is, first, we reserve at least one-third of funds for the prevention of the sexual transmission of HIV, rather than one-third of all prevention funds, for abstinence-until-marriage programs. Secondly, our amendment defines an abstinence-until-marriage program as any program that places a priority emphasis on the public health benefits of refraining from sexual activity outside of marriage. Our amendment gives the administration, local communities, and HIV/ AIDS workers on the ground maximum flexibility to design HIV/AIDS prevention strategies that are most effective in stopping the spread of AIDS.”