Clinton: U.S. should lead AIDS fight

Former president Bill Clinton on Sunday told graduating students at Syracuse University that the United States should lead the global fight against HIV/AIDS through collaborative efforts with other countries, The New York Times reports. Clinton said that while he supports a current bill in Congress that would earmark $3 billion a year for the next five years for international AIDS efforts, he urges Congress and the Bush administration to devote more money to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. After leaving office in January 2001, Clinton founded the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative, which brings together experts to work in the Caribbean and Africa to expand access to HIV antiretroviral treatments.