[Peace-discuss] Fwd: Africa: Rich Countries Stall on New AIDS Funding

[Al Kagan]

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>Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2003 13:25:58 -0500
>Subject: Africa: Rich Countries Stall on New AIDS Funding
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>AFRICA ACTION
>Africa Policy E-Journal
>July 19, 2003 (030719)
>                    
>Africa: Rich Countries Stall on New AIDS Funding
>(Reposted from sources cited below)
>
>Meeting in Paris to consider additional funding for the Global Fund
>to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, donors added a few
>additional promises and little new funding to meet an expected
>shortfall of $500 million to $800 million this year, with an
>additional $3 billion needed to cover grants in 2004. Meanwhile,
>President Bush is urging Congress to restrict U.S. grants to the
>Fund to only $200 million a year. European countries have yet to
>meet the expectation that they would pledge another $1 billion. In
>comparison, the cost of the war in Iraq is now estimated by the
>Pentagon at $3.9 billion each month, or $130 million a day. The
>$200 million U.S. Global Fund contribution proposed by Bush for one
>year thus amounts to little more than 32 hours of war expenses in
>Iraq.
>
>This posting contains a press release from the Global Fund putting
>as positive a spin as possible on new promises, a June 17 letter
>from the White House explicitly urging Congress not to provide more
>money than the President's request of only $200 million for the
>Global Fund and $2 billion total for 2004 funding, a brief note
>from Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS reports on the status on congressional
>action as of Friday, and excerpts from an opinion piece by Jeffrey
>Sachs commenting on the default by both Europe and the U.S.
>
>Another posting today contains several statements by African AIDS
>activists released during and after President Bush's Africa trip.
>
>+++++++++++++++++end summary/introduction+++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
>Global Fund Press Release 16 July 2003
>
>http://www.globalfundatm.org
>
>For more information, contact Jon Liden at +41 79 244 6006, email
>jon.liden at theglobalfund.org or Robert Bourgoing at +41 22 791 1714,
>email robert.bourgoing at theglobalfund.org.
>
>Presidents of the European Commission and France commit to a
>billion dollars from Europe for the Global Fund
>
>Paris - At an international conference to highlight the progress of
>the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, European
>Commission President  Romano Prodi committed personally to fight
>for a one billion dollar contribution from Europe for 2004.
>
>"I am the guarantor for the one billion," President Prodi said at
>the closing ceremony for the International Conference to Support
>the Global Fund. "But you must respect that the European Union is
>a democracy of 15 sovereign states, and we don't always agree on
>everything. Sometimes we work a little like the turtle in the
>fable: we may sometimes work slowly, but we can be trusted to reach
>our goals in the long run."
>
>In his closing speech, French President Jacques Chirac reaffirmed
>his call for Europe to contribute one billion dollars each year,
>while calling for the United States to also allocate one billion
>dollars each year to the Fund.
>
>"The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is an
>outstanding instrument," President Chirac said. "It was set up in
>record time. It is already operating on the ground, saving lives.
>Naturally we will assess its efficiency very carefully. But I am
>convinced that this multilateral response expresses, better than
>any other, the ideal of solidarity and collective action that must
>impel us."
>
>Earlier in the day, other leaders had also pronounced their support
>for the Global Fund.
>
>"I believe in the Global Fund," said Nelson Mandela in an address
>to the conference. "I believe that it has shown great progress, and
>that we must, in turn, commit more support to its success and
>future."
>
>Mr Mandela addressed 250 delegates consisting of ministers of
>health and foreign affairs, senior development officials, private
>sector executives and non-governmental organizations in a
>conference hosted by the French government. The conference was
>co-chaired by US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tommy
>Thompson, the French Minister of Development and Francophonie,
>Pierre Andre Wiltzer, and the French Minister for Health, Family
>and Disabled Persons, Jean-Francois Mattei.
>
>There was a unified call by the speakers for sufficient new money
>to ensure that the Global Fund can finance the rapidly increasing
>needs of programs in countries with heavy burdens of disease.
>
>Some countries announced new pledges to the Global Fund. A number
>of other countries re-confirmed their support.
>
>The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced that it would
>accelerate its payment of the remaining US$ 50 million of a
>previous US$ 100 million commitment in order to help increase the
>amount of funds available for the third round of funding coming up
>in October. The French-based public relations group Publicis
>unveiled a long-term pro bono collaboration to improve awareness of
>the Global Fund.
>
>"Turning the tide of AIDS, TB and malaria is a priority second to
>none," said Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations in
>his address. "The Fund is there to fill a specific and substantial
>gap to scale up by providing effective funding (to fight the three
>diseases)."
>
>The Global Fund is a funding mechanism for country-based programs
>of proven interventions against the three diseases. Initial funding
>is provided for two years, with continued support dependent on
>program performance. In its first two rounds of grant applications,
>the Global Fund approved grants worth US$ 1.5 billion over two
>years to more than 150 programs in 92 countries. This money will
>provide more than 500,000 people living with HIV/AIDS with
>antiretroviral treatment, and medical and educational support for
>half a million children orphaned due to AIDS. It will also enable
>the detection and treatment of two million additional cases of
>tuberculosis, and deliver 20 million combination drug treatments
>for drug-resistant malaria.
>
>Since March, the Global Fund has doubled its disbursement every
>month and is on track to provide US$200 million to its recipients
>by the end of the year. Through 2004, US$2.6 billion has been
>pledged to the Fund, with an additional US$2.1 billion pledged for
>2005 to 2008. An additional US$3 billion is required to fund its
>next three rounds of approved grant applications.
>
>************************************************************
>
>THE WHITE HOUSE,
>
>Washington, July 17, 2003.
>
>Hon. Bill Frist,
>Majority Leader, U.S. Senate,
>Washington, DC.
>
>DEAR LEADER FRIST:
>
>It is my understanding that an amendment regarding funding for
>HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria may be offered today to the
>Department of Defense FY2004 appropriations bill currently under
>consideration on the Senate floor.
>
>I want to reiterate the Administration's strong support for the
>FY2004 budget request of $2 billion for all international HIV/AIDS,
>tuberculosis and malaria activities, including $200 million for the
>Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria. This request is a
>solid first step in fulfilling the President's commitment of
>providing $15 billion over the next five years to address the
>HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa, the Caribbean and around the world.
>
>I recently finished traveling to Africa with the President where he
>saw first-hand the positive impact that current U.S. funding is
>having in caring for the sick, providing treatment for individuals
>living with HIV/AIDS and extending lives. He also witnessed the
>vast infrastructure and capacity challenges that need to be
>addressed in order to scale-up many of these efforts.
>
>It is by careful design that the President's FY2004 budget request
>is for $2 billion. This request was based on the sound judgment
>that funds in excess of this amount could not be spend effectively
>in this first year. These funds will be spent in a focused manner,
>increasing each year, to efficiently and effectively create the
>necessary training, technology, and infrastructure based needed to
>ensure delivery of appropriate medical treatment protocols and the
>long term success of this initiative.
>
>These funds are vital to our efforts to combat HIV/AIDS abroad, but
>must be spent in the right way, at the right time. Similarly,
>efforts to increase funding to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB
>and Malaria are not appropriate at this time. Currently, the United
>States is responsible for over 40% of all contributions made to the
>Global Fund. We have reached a critical time in the Global Fund's
>development, and other nations must join the U.S. in supporting the
>work of the Global Fund.
>
>For the reasons stated above, the Administration strongly opposes
>any efforts to increase funding beyond the $2 billion requested in
>the President's FY2004 budget. I appreciate your unwavering
>leadership on this issue and look forward to the continued strong
>bipartisan support of the Senate in ensuring the success of this
>lifesaving initiative.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Dr. Joseph F. O'Neill
>Director, Office of National AIDS Policy.
>
>>From the Congressional Record 17 July 2003
>
>************************************************************
>
>Kaiser Daily News HIV/AIDS Report
>A service of kaisernetwork.org
>http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/hiv
>
>February 18, 2003
>
>1. Senate Appropriations Committee Passes Foreign Aid Bill With
>$1.4B To Fight AIDS; Democrats Will Push for More Money
>
>The Senate Appropriations Committee yesterday approved an $18.1
>billion fiscal year 2004 foreign aid spending bill, including $1.4
>billion to fight AIDS, but Democrats said that they will push for
>more money to fight the epidemic, Reuters reports.  Additional
>money for the five-year, $15 billion global AIDS initiative (HR
>1298) is expected to be included in other spending bills that the
>committee has yet to consider, according to Reuters (Allen,
>Reuters, 7/17).  The House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday
>approved its version of the FY 2004 foreign aid spending bill,
>which includes $1.43 billion for AIDS.  The House so far has
>approved a total of $2 billion for the AIDS initiative in FY 2004,
>an increase of about $500 million over FY 2003 spending.  The full
>House on July 10 approved a bill (HB 6470) to provide funding for
>labor, education and health programs, including $644 million for
>foreign AIDS research and prevention and $155 million for combating
>other infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis (Kaiser Daily
>HIV/AIDS Report, 7/17).  The House, which authorized up to $3
>billion for the fight against AIDS, expects to appropriate about
>$2.1 billion -- a 70% increase in spending over last year's total
>-- according to the Christian Science Monitor (Chaddock, Christian
>Science Monitor, 7/18).
>
>Amendment Expected in Senate Floor Debate
>
>The $1.4 billion in the Senate measure includes $700 million for
>U.S.-run programs under the global AIDS initiative, up to $250
>million for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
>and $150 million for the International Mother and Child HIV
>Prevention Initiative, according to CongressDaily/AM (Caruso/Hess,
>CongressDaily/AM, 7/18).  President Bush in June 2002 announced a
>three-year, $500 million international HIV/AIDS initiative focused
>on preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Africa and the
>Caribbean (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 6/19/02).  Sen. Patrick
>Leahy (D-Vt.), ranking member of the Foreign Operations
>Appropriations subcommittee, said that when the measure is debated
>on the floor he plans to offer an amendment to the bill that would
>increase HIV/AIDS spending by $1 billion (CongressDaily/AM, 7/18).
>The full Senate last week approved 78-18 a nonbinding resolution
>calling for $3 billion in 2004 to fight AIDS overseas, even if the
>amount exceeds the ceiling mandated in Congress's annual budget
>resolution (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 7/17).
>
>Defense Bill
>
>The full Senate yesterday passed a $368.6 billion defense spending
>bill (S 1382), voting 71-24 to defeat an amendment by Sen. Robert
>Byrd (D-W.Va.) that would have transferred $1.1 billion from
>defense spending to the AIDS initiative (Guggenheim,
>AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/18).  Republicans yesterday said that
>AIDS funding should not be in the defense bill but should be "dealt
>with in other bills," according to Reuters (Reuters, 7/17).  The
>Senate defense bill will be reconciled with a similar measure
>passed last week in the House (Guggenheim, AP/Las Vegas Sun, 7/17).
>Democrats and AIDS advocates have said that U.S. credibility will
>be damaged if Congress fails to appropriate $3 billion for the
>first year of the AIDS initiative (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report,
>7/11).  "Just as we feared, the $3 billion turned out to be an
>empty promise to some of the most desperate people in the world,"
>Paul Zeitz, executive director of the Global AIDS Alliance, said
>(Reuters, 7/17).  
>
>*******************************************************
>
>Jeffrey Sachs, "A Miserly Response to a Global Emergency"
>Financial Times, July 17, 2003 (http://www.ft.com)
>
>[excerpts only]


-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu