President George W. Bush will ask Congress to provide 30 billion dollars to fight the scourge of AIDS around the world, expanding a US program due to expire next year, US media reported Wednesday.
The increase would double the current US commitment and provide life-saving treatment to 2.5 million people, about 1.4 million more than the program now covers, The Washington Post reported, citing administration officials.
The president's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), with 15 billion in funding, has a five-year mandate that expires in September 2008.
The program pays for anti-retroviral treatment in the worst-hit countries, funds drugs for patients in the developing world and delivers medicine to pregnant women to prevent infections to newborns.
Bush plans to issue the appeal later on Wednesday from the White House and will be joined by an AIDS patient and a caregiver.
At the end of last year, around 39.5 million people were living with HIV or AIDS, according to UN figures.
Sub-Saharan Africa remains by far the worst-affected region and is home to two-thirds of all people living with HIV.
