Clinton promises funds to fight AIDS

Last week, President Bill Clinton travelled around Africa talking with leaders and stressing the need for AIDS awareness. He also brought more than $20 million in funds to help relieve the AIDS crisis. Despite his efforts, Africa is going to need more than money if AIDS is to be a manageable disease.\nThis summer, the United Nations released a report examining AIDS in Africa. According to the report, HIV prevalence rates among 15- to 49-year-olds is 10 percent or greater in 16 sub-Saharan countries. The report was prepared by the Joint United Nations program on HIV/ AIDS (UNAIDS). It said that in South \nAfrica and Zimbabwe ' where about one-fifth of the adult population is infected with HIV or AIDS ' the disease is set to claim the lives of one-half of all 15-year-olds. In Botswana, where HIV and AIDS infects one in three adults, two-thirds of all 15-year-old boys will die, according to the report.\n"The AIDS toll in hard-hit countries is altering the economic and social fabric of society. HIV will kill more than one-third of the young adults of countries where it has its firmest hold, yet the global response is just a fraction of what it could be," Executive Director of UNAIDS Peter Piot said in the report.\nIn developing countries, HIV transmission occurs mainly through unsafe sex between men and women. The majority of people who acquire HIV by their 20s and 30s will, on average, succumb to AIDS around a decade later. This is putting a huge economic strain on these sub-Saharan countries and is one of the key contributors to social instability: In Cote d'Ivoire, for example, seven of every 10 teachers succumb to AIDS, according to the report.\n"Because of AIDS, poverty is geting worse just as the need for more resources to curb the spread of HIV and alleviate the epidemic's impact on development is growing. It's time to make the connection between debt relief and epidemic relief," said Piot in the report. "Developing countries, who carry 95 percent of the HIV/AIDS burden, owe in total around $2 trillion. But Africa is the priority because this is the region with the most HIV infections, the most AIDS deaths and the vast majority of the world's heavily indebted poor countries." \nPresident Clinton's visit to Africa did make some headway into the AIDS problem. In Nigeria, Clinton promised to ask Congress to increase international AIDS prevention and care funds by $100 million ' to $342 million ' in 2001.To date, the United States has invested more than $1.4 billion in international AIDS programs, said a spokesperson for Clinton at a press briefing Sunday.\nSandra Thurman, director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, told reporters at the same press briefing that Clinton has shown considerable leadership to obtain funding for international AIDS programs.\n"We saw a $9.4 million commitment on the part of the United States that triples our funding last year, which was $2.7 million for Nigerian AIDS programs, and leadership ' I mean real leadership on the part of President Clinton and on the part of President Obasanjo," Thurman said in the transcript. "And that's what's going to need if we're going to really have an impact and begin to fight the spread of infection." \nWilliam Jackson, director of the Africa America Institute's Government Relations and Policy Program in Washington, said the money is a start, but clearly more needs to be done.\n"It is allottable, but it is far from sufficient. We would probably have to increase funds ten fold," he said. "It was something the President could deliver readily during his visit. It is a step in the right direction." \nAt the press briefing, the White House spokesperson said the funds will be targeted to countries where the disease is most widespread, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, and will be given to such priority causes as stepping up AIDS prevention efforts; care and treatment for the infected; care for children orphaned by AIDS; and strengthening the public health infrastructure that can prevent and control the disease.\nJackson also said the United States should not dictate how the funds are spent, but rather encourage a discussion with the countries about their specific needs.\n"It is not really up to us to say the money should be spent this way or that," he said. "(We need) to take each country individually and determine what area is their greatest need. Some countries, like Botswana, have one of the highest HIV rates in the world. We probably want to focus more on treatment. On a country like Senegal, where the HIV rate is lower, your priorities might be different. We can't make those decisions in isolation. We need to consult the African nations"