Bush signs bill boosting AIDS spending

President Bush on Thursday signed the $397.4 billion omnibus spending bill for fiscal 2003, which includes $80 million in additional funds for the nation's AIDS Drug Assistance Programs and a $350 million contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. All told, the bill includes $1.4 billion in funding for international AIDS programs. AIDS advocates welcomed the measure, saying the additional funding for the ADAPs will help many states in their efforts to avoid creating waiting lists, cutting current patients from the programs, or limiting the number of drugs provided at steep discounts or for free to low-income and uninsured HIV-positive people.