I really love Hillary. But I'm deeply saddened by her remarks today regarding the Reagans and AIDS.

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23. Who Did More For AIDS Research? The Clinton's

first in the White House and continued at Clinton Health Access Initiative part of the Clinton Foundation.

Providing National Leadership. President Clinton and Vice President Gore have worked hard to invigorate the response to HIV and AIDS, providing new national leadership, substantially greater resources and a closer working relationship with affected communities. During their Administration, funding for AIDS research has increased by over 57 percent at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), while funding for HIV prevention has increased 36 percent. Funding for the Ryan White CARE Act has increased by over 260 percent.

Although much work remains to find a cure, progress has been made. In 1996, for the first time in the history of the AIDS epidemic, the number of Americans diagnosed with AIDS declined. And between 1996 and 1997, HIV/AIDS mortality declined 47 percent, falling from the leading cause of death among 25-44 year olds in 1995 to the fifth leading cause of death in that age group. There has been a decline in the number of AIDS cases overall and a sharp decline in new AIDS cases in infants and children.

Leading the Global Fight Against HIV/AIDS. On December 1, 1998 (World AIDS Day), the President announced a new $10 million initiative at USAID to address the growing crisis of children orphaned by AIDS. The United States has invested over $1 billion in international AIDS relief since the start of the epidemic and funds 25% of UNAIDS. NIH represents the largest single public investment in AIDS research in the world. More than $62 million of NIH's international AIDS research in FY1999 is being conducted overseas in partnership with the global scientific community.

Historic $156 Million Effort to Address HIV/AIDS in Communities of Color. While racial and ethnic groups account only for about 25 percent of the U.S. population, they account for more than 50 percent of all AIDS cases. On October 28, 1998, President Clinton declared HIV/AIDS to be a severe and ongoing health crisis in racial and ethnic minority communities and announced a comprehensive new initiative that invests an unprecedented $156 million to improve the nation's effectiveness in preventing and treating HIV/AIDS in the African-American, Hispanic, and other minority communities. This funding is spread across three broad categories: technical assistance and infrastructure support; increasing access to prevention and care, and building stronger linkages to address the needs of specific populations.

Fighting to Pass a Strong, Enforceable Patients' Bill of Rights. President Clinton has called on the Congress to pass a strong, enforceable patients' bill of rights that assures Americans the quality health care they need. The bill should include important patient protections such as: assuring direct access to specialists; real emergency room protections; continuity of care provisions that protect patients from abrupt changes in treatment; a fair, timely, and independent appeals process for patient grievances; and enforcement provisions to make these rights real.http://clinton2.nara.gov/ONAP/accomp.html

Two-thirds of people who need treatment in the developing world are still not receiving it.
When the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) was founded in 2002, only 200,000 people were receiving treatment for HIV/AIDS in low and middle income countries, with medicines that cost over $10,000 per person per year. Over a decade later, more than eight million people are receiving treatment and CHAI has helped reduce the cost of medicines to around $100 to $200 per person per year in many countries. Countries have repeatedly proven that it is possible to rapidly scale up treatment services. For the first time, there is real promise that we can turn the tide against HIV/AIDS.
- See more at: https://www.clintonfoundation.org/our-work/clinton-health-access-initiative/programs/hivaids#sthash.yrIoty6H.dpuf