AIDS Fund Faces Shortfall as Donors Meet in Paris

PARIS (Reuters) – A worldwide scheme to fight AIDS will receive plenty of fine words but little new cash to bridge a $500-800 million funding gap this year when ministers from 14 countries meet in Paris Wednesday.

PARIS (Reuters) – A worldwide scheme to fight AIDS will receive plenty of fine words but little new cash to bridge a $500-800 million funding gap this year when ministers from 14 countries meet in Paris Wednesday.The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which has committed $1.5 billion to programs in 92 countries in the last 18 months, faces a lack of money for schemes waiting to be funded at its next board meeting in October.Hopes of major new pledges from Europe after President Bush promised $15 billion to fight AIDS over five years were dashed this week when the European Commission made clear it would not be putting new cash on the table.Washington and Brussels both claim to be outspending each other, with the United States the biggest single donor to the Global Fund but the European Union and its member states together providing 55 percent of total pledges.Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, who chairs the Global Fund’s board, said funding was likely to fall $500-800 million short of the amount needed to pay for all the programs due to be approved by its scientific experts this year.”We will be short… It’s obvious that we all need to do a little bit more because we do not have enough dollars this year to meet our commitments,” Thompson said.Despite the Global Fund having pledges of $4.6 billion through to 2008, less than a quarter of its needs to the end of 2004 will be met by these promises.While some countries such as Germany and Italy may announce their pledges for 2004, Europe has shied away from a substantial injection of new money.French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair had urged other leaders to promise up to $1 billion at the Paris talks after the U.S. authorized that amount.The U.S. offer is dependent on its contribution not exceeding more than one third of the total — a condition meant to encourage other countries to give more.AIDS activists slammed the EU’s inaction.”There is still time for Europe to lead not lag in the fight against AIDS. But they have to believe in their hearts that this is an emergency,” said Lucy Matthew, European director of DATA, the African advocacy group founded by rock stars Bono and Bob Geldof.(Source: Reuters, Tue July 15, 2003 08:04 PM ET, By Ben Hirschler)