President George W. Bush is urging the Congress to approve an additional $30 billion to support the fight against AIDS. The supplementary funding would be used to fight the disease around the world over the next five years.

The President also revealed that he would be visiting sun-Saharan Africa in the early part of next year to see the program at work. Africa is known to be the region with the most people suffering from AIDS. Eight African countries account for almost one third of all new HIV infections and deaths.

These announcements were made during a meeting at Calvary United Methodist Church in Maryland with leaders of religious and community groups that support fighting against AIDS. This way, Bush wanted to mark World AIDS Day – a day when people are thinking more than ever of what can be done to solve AIDS problems.

President Bush is known to have launched the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in 2003, a plan for five years, which benefited of $15-billion to expand HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care around the world.

The $30 billion are meant to reauthorize his old plan, only this time with a bigger amount.

"Now the time has come for the United States Congress to act again. I'm confident they will and I call on the Congress to show America's leadership by reauthorizing the emergency plan and doubling our commitment to this urgent cause," Bush said.

According to the White House, more than 1.3 million people with AIDS have been treated during the program. The President hopes that, by increasing the funding, the number of people who would benefit from it would boost to 2.5 million. Moreover, it would offer care to millions more with AIDS.

According to latest statistics, 33 million people around the world are diagnosed to be living with HIV. The number seemed to have leveled off from 40 million worldwide which sounds promising but it still is a matter of great concern. Another 2.5 million people contracted the virus this year, which means a 40 percent lower than the estimate for 2006. Two million people more have died from AIDS since the beginning of the year, including 330,000 children. In the United States an estimated 1 million people are living with HIV.