Laura Bush calls for U.S. AIDS funding approval

After visiting the world's oldest AIDS clinic and meeting HIV-positive Haitians, U.S. first lady Laura Bush on Thursday urged lawmakers to approve tens of billions of dollars more to combat the disease.

"As we speak, the second reauthorization of PEPFAR is being discussed in the U.S. Congress," Mrs. Bush said, referring to the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

The program was launched by President George W. Bush in 2003 to provide support programs and drugs in 15 countries -- 12 in Africa plus Vietnam, Guyana and Haiti -- to treat people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

"I feel very encouraged that the United States will reauthorize," said Mrs. Bush during a visit to GHESKIO -- a Haitian clinic which was established in 1982 and calls itself the first institution in the world dedicated exclusively to the fight against HIV/AIDS.

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