U.S. Senate Majority Leader Frist to Lead Congressional Delegation to Africa to Discuss HIV/AIDS Prevention, Treatment Strategies

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) on Thursday announced plans to lead an official, six-member congressional delegation to Africa this week to meet with officials to discuss strategies for fighting HIV/AIDS, according to a Frist release. Frist and Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) and John Warner (R-Va.) are scheduled to travel to South Africa tomorrow. Before returning to the United States on Aug. 29, they are also scheduled to visit Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia. The delegation plans to meet with government and public health officials, physicians, HIV-positive people and their families. The delegation also will visit clinics and testing and treatment facilities, including the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, South Africa; the Salvation Army HIV orphanage in Soweto; the Bernard Noordkamp Catholic AIDS Action Center in Windhoek, Namibia; and the St. Mary's Hospital Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission and VCT facility in Windhoek. "Our world has become an increasingly small place where disease, war and famine know no borders," Frist said, adding, "HIV/AIDS is threatening the stability of numerous nations around the world, many in Africa. ... It is my great hope that this trip will foster cooperation and dialogue to fight this disease and provide the prospect of greater opportunity for future generations of Africans" (Frist release, 8/14).

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