Contact: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Press Office, 202-712-4320; Public Information, 202-712-4810

WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 /Standard Newswire/ -- The President and First Lady traveled to Thailand to celebrate 175 years of U.S.-Thai relations and to discuss bilateral and regional issues with Prime Minister Samak. During their stay, the President visited an AIDS hospice supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), while the First Lady met with the director of a USAID-funded clinic that provides free medical care to Burmese refugees and migrant workers who have crossed into Thailand. The Bushes also were briefed on USAID's ongoing work in Burma to ensure that the survivors of May's Cyclone Nargis have access to food and the ability to re-establish their livelihoods and recover from trauma.

President Bush went to Mercy Centre in the Klong Toey area of Bangkok to lend support to the center's USAID-subsidized AIDS hospice, its orphanages, and its home for mothers and children with HIV/AIDS. The President met some of the 450 children who attend Mercy Centre's pre-schools and commended the center's founder, Father Joseph Maier, for providing shelter for street children and combating HIV/AIDS. With funding support from USAID, Mercy Centre has provided education and home-based care to people living with HIV/AIDS and their families in low-income communities since 2004.

Mrs. Bush traveled to Mae Sot, near the Burma border, to meet refugees at the U.S. Government (USG)-assisted Mae La Refugee Camp and tour the USAID-supported Mae Tao Clinic. Each year since 1998, USAID contributions have helped the clinic reach 150,000 migrants and displaced Burmese. In addition, USAID provides cross-border support to the Burmese Medical Association and to Burmese health workers who treat internally displaced people living in the conflict-affected eastern areas of the country. Mrs. Bush discussed health issues affecting Burmese migrants and displaced people with Mae Tao Clinic's founder and director, Dr. Cynthia Maung. Mrs. Bush distributed 200 long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets for needy families, and she announced a gift of $100,000 to USAID for 10,000 nets from the UN Foundation's Nothing But Nets campaign to be used for Burmese families who are internally displaced.

In addition, President and Mrs. Bush were briefed on USAID's efforts to help the victims of Cyclone Nargis. USAID is providing seed and tools to Burmese farmers, helping to restore micro-credit programs, and supporting debris clearance, infrastructure repair and non-agrarian livelihoods. USAID's longer-term programs in Burma continue to support the prevention and control of infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and avian influenza.

USAID provided $40.5 million of the USG's $50 million in humanitarian assistance to Burma following Cyclone Nargis. More than 20 non-governmental and international organizations have received USG funding to deliver this assistance, which has reached more than 1 million Burmese people.

For more information about USAID and its programs in Asia, please visit www.usaid.gov.