US Plans New AIDS Contribution

The Bush administration is announcing a $200 million commitment to a new global "war chest" to fight AIDS, malaria and TB. The pledge is planned as seed money for a $7 billion to $10 billion fund that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has asked the world's richest nations and private philanthropists to establish. Africa -- home to 26 million of the world's 36 million people with HIV -- is expected to get a large share of the funds. "Nations will collapse if we don't fix these problems," said Secretary of State Colin Powell. "We're committed to fighting AIDS and other infectious diseases."

AIDS activists, however, quickly criticized the pledge as inadequate. "It's criminally small," said David Bryden of the Global AIDS Alliances. "The United States has got ample money for this and the money has just got to be found-something along the lines of $2.5 billion." Health GAP Coalition called the amount "shameful" and said, "It sends a message to other wealthy nations that this UN trust fund and the lives it could save are not worth the investment."

Meanwhile, the State Department announced yesterday that Powell will travel to Africa to witness firsthand the devastation caused by AIDS. Beginning May 22, Powell will visit Mali, South Africa, Kenya and Uganda. Also on Thursday, Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo became the first African president to visit the Bush White House. Obasanjo, whose nation is $29 billion in debt, will meet with the heads of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

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