Press Release: More Than 1,600 People Currently Receiving Life-Saving AIDS Medicine In The Bahamas; Up From Under 500 in 2002

In a visit to Princess Margaret Hospital in Nassau today, former President Bill Clinton announced that more than 1,600 people are receiving “antiretroviral” (ARV) medicine, up from approximately 470 who were on ARVs in 2002, thanks to the work of the government of the Bahamas and the Clinton Foundation. In addition, more than 2,000 HIV-positive people are receiving clinical care and support under the program.

In today’s visit, President Clinton met with some of the people receiving life-saving ARVs through a program established by the government with the assistance of his Foundation, and hailed the drop in the mother-to-child transmission HIV rate in the Bahamas.

“I am thrilled that the Bahamas Ministry of Health, with the help of our Foundation, has achieved a substantial reduction in mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. Last year, there were no new cases of children born HIV-positive from mothers with HIV/AIDS who were receiving treatment,” President Clinton said. All pregnant women identified with HIV and HIV-positive children receive ARVs and regular followup care.

Between the end of 2002 and the end of 2004, mortality for people with HIV/AIDS went from approximately 250 deaths per year to 140 deaths per year. The percentage of pregnant women who are HIV positive declined from 2.7 percent in 2001 to 1.6 percent in 2004.

President Bill Clinton said that decentralized care is the next big step in treating people with the virus in the Bahamas.

“I salute the hard work and dedication of the government of the Bahamas. The next step is to increase our ability to provide people with HIV/AIDS with care and treatment closer to where they live,” said President Clinton. “My Foundation is working closely with the government of the Bahamas to help train medical personnel and identify ways to equip clinics with the supplies and staff necessary so those requiring ARVs do not have to come to Nassau or Freeport to receive the treatment they need.”

The Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative is at work in the Caribbean, Africa, India and China to bring care and treatment to people with HIV/AIDS. The Foundation has helped reduce the cost of AIDS drugs and diagnostic tests by between 50 and 90 percent, making care and treatment much more affordable for the developing world.

By the end of the first quarter of 2005, it is estimated that more than 110,000 people in the world will be on ARV treatment using drugs and/or tests purchased at the low prices obtained through the Clinton Foundation's agreements, with 80,000 of them being treated under plans the Foundation has helped partner countries develop and implement.

“I am proud of the success our HIV/AIDS Initiative has achieved, but we have much more work to do, because so many people still need care and are not receiving it,” President Clinton said. “I also salute the governments we are working with, as well as those governments and individuals who have made substantial donations to this cause. We also are grateful to the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the World Bank and our care partners.”

The Clinton Foundation team in the Caribbean has worked closely with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Caribbean Epidemiological Center (CAREC), the Caribbean Health Research Council (CHARC), as well as the Harvard Medical School Division of AIDS, Harvard School of Public Health, Columbia University School of Public Health, the University of Alabama, and the University of the West Indies, and the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors. The Foundation also works with the Pan American Health Organization, the Samaritan Ministries and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Over the course of the past fifteen months, the treatment program has been adding about 30 new patients per month, and the death rate from HIV/AIDS in the Bahamas has fallen from about 300 people per year to fewer than 150 people,” President Clinton said. “When we decentralize the care and treatment program to include clinics in a wider geographic area and ramp up our outreach efforts, then we can expect even more progress.”

# # #

Learn more about our work at https://www.clintonfoundation.org/about, on Facebook at Facebook.com/ClintonFoundation and on Twitter @ClintonFdn.