WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is renewing the U.S. commitment to ending HIV and AIDS on Thursday, setting goals for getting more people access to life-saving AIDS drugs and boosting spending on treatment of the virus in the U.S. by $50 million dollars.

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Obama is also announcing new initiatives to combat the spread of HIV in the U.S. Officials said he would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to increase funding for domestic HIV and AIDS treatment by $50 million. The White House said there are 1.2 million Americans living with HIV, and 50,000 new infections each year.

The bulk of the new funding - $35 million - will go to state programs that help people living with HIV and AIDS get medicine. There are currently more than 6,500 Americans living with the virus on waiting lists for medication, according to the White House.

The rest of the domestic funds will go to HIV medical clinics across the country, with an emphasis on areas where infections have increased, and care and treatment are not readily available. Officials said the additional clinic funding would give 7,500 more patients access to treatment.

The officials said Obama does not need congressional approval to allocate the funds. The officials requested anonymity in order to speak ahead of the president's official announcement.

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