China, India Should Open Wallet for AIDS War: Global Fund

Countries with emergent economies could help the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria overcome an impending shortfall in resources, its executive director says.

"I believe that in a globalizing world, in a world where countries like China are joining, and want to join, world governance, at a time when the G-8 is becoming the G-20, it is right for these countries to take up a share of the burden," Michel Kazatchkine said at the conclusion of the 18th International AIDS Conference in Vienna.

Kazatchkine said he has already approached Beijing for help, and a trip to Delhi is scheduled for August. He is also lobbying the oil-rich states of the Gulf ahead of a Global Fund meeting in October that aims to secure $20 billion for projects in 2011-13.

"The Chinese told me they would think about it," Kazatchkine said. "Let's not forget that in terms of [gross national product] per head, China ranks in the hundreds in the world league table. I don't say it is a poor country," I would call it a country with poor people."

Raising scarce money could require innovative financing, such as the micro-tax on foreign exchange transactions proposed by some activists.

"I think it is not impossible, as far as Europe is concerned, to have a tax on euro transactions," Kazatchkine said. "But I am hearing that certain finance ministers want this tax to be used as a buffer for future bank crises, rather than go towards development aid."

The Global Fund has provided $964 million to China, 40 percent of which targets HIV/AIDS. In India, the fund has invested $995 million, two-thirds of which goes toward fighting HIV/AIDS.

Russia has set the precedent for transitioning from a recipient country to a Global Fund supporter. Flush with energy profits in 2006, officials there said they would reimburse the Global Fund for $270 million in projects.

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