The White House announced last week that US First Lady Laura Bush will visit Haiti this week.

White House spokeswoman Dan Perino said President Bush’s wife will also visit Mexico during the March 13-14 tour.

She said Mrs. Bush will "highlight US assistance to fight HIV/AIDS and breast cancer, and promote education," while visiting both countries.

Perino said Mrs. Bush will also visit a US Agency for International Development (USAID) education program and an HIV/AIDS clinic while in Haiti.

Washington is assisting Haiti with its HIV/AIDS program through President Bush's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Last Wednesday, the United States House of Representatives committee voted to triple spending in addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the Caribbean.

By a voice vote, the Foreign Affairs Committee approved to extend spending to about US$10 billion annually over the next five years to Caribbean countries and sub-Saharan Africa nations.

The Caribbean is second to sub-Saharan Africa in the number of persons infected by HIV/AIDS globally.

The vote came after lawmakers and the White House reached a compromise on some of the policy issues, including spending on abstinence program, which had delayed action on the bill.

The bill extends PERFAR, which authorized spending of US$15 billion total for five years for prevention and care programs in the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa.

A number of Caribbean countries have been added as beneficiaries to the president’s plan that originally listed only Haiti and Guyana.

The new additions are Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Maarten, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Cayman Islands.

The compromise bill eliminates the original requirement that one-third of all HIV prevention funds be spent on abstinence.

Rather, the bill directed the Bush administration to promote "balanced funding for prevention activities" in the identified countries.

The agreement also allows the use of AIDS funds for HIV/AIDS testing and counseling services in those family planning programs supported by Washington.