Bill Clinton Speaks at International AIDS Conference

Global money for fighting HIV/AIDS should go to local organizations dealing directly with patients and to national plans that deliver effective services at lower cost with less overhead, former US President Bill Clinton said Monday at the 18th International AIDS Conference in Vienna. "I think in too many countries too much money goes to pay for too many people to go to too many meetings, get on too many airplanes," said Clinton. The result is studies and reports that sit on shelves and not action on the ground, he added. "Keep in mind that every dollar we waste today puts a life at risk." Aid groups must acknowledge that the world is "awash in trouble" financially. "It is easy to rail at a government and say why doesn't the government give us more money if they're giving somebody else money," he said. "But the government gets its money in most of these countries from tax payers who have lower incomes today than they did two years ago." To have the "moral standing" to ask for more money, aid groups should be able to demonstrate that "we're doing our job faster, better and cheaper," Clinton said.

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