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Date Posted: 19:35:39 07/24/02 Wed
Author: moonotter
Subject: Clinton Calls For Resources to Combat Global AIDS Epidemic

Clinton Calls For Resources to Combat Global AIDS Epidemic


Reuters Health Information 2002. © 2002 Reuters Ltd.
Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.


By Ben Hirschler
BARCELONA, Spain, July 12 (Reuters) Jul 11 - The International AIDS Conference closes on Friday with rousing calls from Bill Clinton and other world leaders to mobilise resources for millions of sufferers in the developing world.

Two decades into an epidemic that kills one person every 10 seconds, the gulf between rich and poor is starker than ever. The sophisticated drugs that have turned HIV infection into a chronic condition in the West reach only one in a thousand in Africa, the epicentre of the crisis.

Former U.S. president Clinton, who is the co-chairman of the International AIDS Trust, described AIDS as the biggest single problem for the world, barring nuclear war, and called on Western governments to pay up for a new global AIDS fund.

"First of all, the rich countries should figure out what they owe and pay in a timely fashion," he said. "For the first time in history the world has to take responsibility for a global health crisis."

The U.S. and other Western governments have borne the brunt of protests at the biennial meeting, with activists noisily demanding they commit $10 billion a year to the U.N.'s Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Created in 2001, it has so far secured just $2.8 billion.

Without that money, the World Health Organisation's target of getting antiretroviral drugs to three million people by 2005 will remain a pipedream.

A debate has raged throughout the conference over the balance between prevention and treatment in the developing world, home to 95% of the world's 40 million infections.

Dollar for dollar, prevention is more cost-effective. But to ignore the provision of medicines would be like driving past bus crash victims for an urgent meeting on seatbelt legislation, said Richard Feacham, new head of the global fund.

Despite steep price cuts for poor countries and competition from generic drugs, combination therapy remains out of reach for the vast majority of those in the developing world.

A vaccine is still far from assured. Seth Berkley, president of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, said the meeting had been "a reality check" on how the world was doing in the fight against AIDS.



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