AIDS Alert International: Christian group attacks UN health fund push
AIDS Alert International
Christian group attacks UN health fund push
Calls new fund unrealistic
The new Global Health Fund proposed by the United Nations and G8 nations is beginning to attract substantial pledges, apparently responding to calls made by Kofi Annan, UN secretary-general, and other UN agencies for financial support. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a $100 million commitment to the Global AIDS and Health Fund, which it said should be used "for innovative HIV/AIDS prevention efforts."
But UK-based Christian Aid has attacked the proposed fund, maintaining that the AIDS pandemic in Africa and Southeast Asia cannot be tackled by drugs alone. It says the problems of poverty and poor health care systems need to be improved before the spread of the disease can be tackled successfully. The charity is one of the first to openly oppose the fund.
"Christian Aid believes the international community needs to direct its energy toward massive increases in aid through existing channels," said Mark Curtis, head of policy at the charity. "It also needs to focus on reforming those existing channels rather than being distracted by discussions of a new fund." He also warned that the fund risks becoming a subsidy for the pharmaceutical companies, with little benefit to AIDS sufferers.
The UN’s Annan has said the proposed fund needs $7 billion to $10 billion initially. The pledges trickling in so far are quite small — the United States has promised just $200 million, and Britain is proposing to offer $100 million over three years, in addition to the Gates Foundation’s $100 million pledge — so it seems unlikely that more than $1 billion will be raised this year.
AIDS treatment with antiretroviral drugs, even at the special reduced prices now being offered by suppliers, will cost up to $1,100 per patient per year. Almost 3 million sub-Saharan Africans died of AIDS last year. Some European and American government officials are irritated with Annan for raising unrealistic expectations.
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