Bush signs $15bn Aids plan
2003-05-28 12:43
Washington - Citing a "moral duty to act" against the spread of Aids, United States President George W Bush has signed into law a $15bn plan (about R123bn) to fight the disease in Africa and the Caribbean.
"America will not look away. This great nation is stepping forward to help," said Bush in a ceremony at the state department, vowing to challenge key US allies next week to step up their own Aids-battling commitments.
The US leader said he would deliver that message when he attended the June 1-3 Group of Eight summit in Evian, France, and came face-to-face with leaders of the world's seven major industrialised nations, plus Russia.
"I will urge our European partners and Japan and Canada to join this great mission of rescue, to match their good intentions with real resources," said the president, who leaves later this week for Poland, Russia and then the G8 meeting.
"I will remind them that time is not on our side," because each day 8 000 more people die of Aids in Africa, and 14 000 more are infected with HIV, the virus that causes it," said Bush.
Much more needed to fight the disease
European critics have long charged that the US international aid budget is stingy, relative to the size of its economy. If acted upon, the measure Bush signed would triple the annual Aids-fighting budget.
The United Nations' HIV and Aids agency, UNAids, hailed the plan while warning that even the new funds would fall short of the amount needed to fight the disease.
"The US has recognised that Aids is a significant threat to global development and stability, and is backing up that understanding with a commitment to substantial new resources," said Peter Piot, UNAids executive director.
"Even with the deployment of the projected new US funds, spending will still be barely one-half of what is required for a baseline-level prevention and treatment response by 2005," said Piot.
The new measure allows the US government to spend $3bn a year through to 2008 to provide treatment and preventive care to those suffering from the disease and those in danger of contracting the virus.
But the US Congress must allocate the funds in yearly budgets.
Will prevent 7 million infections
The move aims to highlight the softer side of US foreign policy in the wake of a sharp break with some traditional allies - including France, Germany, Canada and Mexico - regarding the war in Iraq.
About 42 million people in the world, including 30 million in Africa, are infected by HIV, the virus which causes Aids, from which more than 30 million already have died.
The US president has said the plan will prevent seven million new HIV infections, treat at least two million with life-extending drugs, and provide care for millions who already have Aids or were orphaned by the disease.
Countries due to receive priority treatment under the US plan are Botswana, Ethiopia, Guyana, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
The legislation allows, but does not require, that $1bn of the total amount can be sent to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, created in 2002 and managed by the World Health Organization.
Some critics in the Aids-fighting community have also charged that Bush's budget for 2004 only asks for about $1.7bn instead of the $3bn envisioned in the legislation. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA