Washington: Terming AIDS the "greatest health crisis of our time", US President George W Bush has called for a global fight against the pandemic and stressed the need for developing new treatments and drugs.

"HIV/AIDS is the greatest health crisis of our time. Its defeat requires the cooperation of the entire global community," Bush said in a message yesterday (Dec 1, 2004) on the occasion of World AIDS Day.

He said that to defeat this pandemic, "We must discover new treatments and cures. My administration also supports efforts to encourage testing because in the United States alone, one-quarter of those infected with HIV each year do not know that they are infected. And, because abstinence is the only sure way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases, my administration has more than tripled funding for abstinence-only programmes since taking office," he said.

Elaborating on the US's contribution in battling the life threatening disease, Bush said that his administration had made 'turning the tide' against HIV/AIDS a priority.

"This year, we also recognise the challenges HIV/AIDS poses to women. Through the Emergency Plan, the United States supports drug therapy and counselling to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS," he said.

The US Government had last year earmarked nearly $ 15 billion over a five year period for the 'Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief' he said.