Germany will give four billion euro (5,4 billion US dollar) over the next eight years to the global fight against HIV/AIDS, its Development Minister said Thursday.
Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul told the Financial Times Deutschland that the new funds were intended to send a message to other member states during the G8 summit.
The new pledge amounts to 500 million euro per year, compared to 300 million euro last year and 400 million euro in 2006. The G8 has until 2015 to keep its pledge to provide universal access to care and treatment for all HIV patients.
Wieczorek-Zeul said that this pledge should also be renewed in the summit communiqué. And she also promised more German contributions to a global fund for the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
Nevertheless, the G8 wealthy countries appear on the verge of backtracking on their landmark agreement two years ago to fund universal access to treatment for Aids sufferers.
The reduced target comes despite several G8 leaders, including US president George W. Bush and German chancellor Angela Merkel, this week highlighting Aids funding as a key summit priority.
The summit draft communiqué, dated June 1, still says the G8 plans to “scale up” towards “universal accesses” but then cites the 5 million figures for people who will be supported with “life-saving anti-retroviral treatment”.
Aids experts and campaigners said it reflected divisions between the US and European countries on the targeting of Aids funding, and realization on the part of G8 governments that providing universal access was in the short term beyond their budgets.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
