G-8 $60B AIDS Pledge Misses Target with 'Vague Rhetoric'
Group of Eight leaders were criticized Friday for failing to lay out specifics for their $60 billion package to fight AIDS and other diseases ravaging Africa.
Humanitarian and development organizations shook their head in dismay at the missing timetable for the disbursement of the funds as G8 leaders congratulated one another on their achievements on the final day of the summit.
"The G-8 has failed in its response to the global HIV and AIDS crisis by missing the mark on funding and offering vague rhetoric to the millions of men, women and children living with the virus and at risk in the developing world," lamented Christian relief and development group World Vision in a statement.
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On Friday, G-8 nations reaffirmed their 2005 Gleneagles summit promises to double aid to Africa by the end of the decade and ensure universal access to prevention, treatment and care of people affected with HIV and AIDS, according to Reuters. In 2005 leaders pledged to raise annual aid level by $50 billion by 2010, $25 billion of which is for Africa.
In addition, G-8 leaders said Friday they would provide at least $60 billion to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, but gave no specific time for the completion of the disbursement nor the contribution of individual countries.
"I am exasperated," Irish rock star and anti-poverty campaigner Bono told Reuters. "I think it is deliberately the language of obfuscation. It is deliberately misleading."
Others are concern that the lack of specificity in the agreement will lead to the G-8 nations failing to reach their goals.
"If these governments fail to lay out the details of their strategies for success, then how can they hope to achieve their 2010 and 2015 targets," questioned Marwin Meier, WV's HIV and AIDS specialist in Germany.
World Vision is one of the world's largest aid and relief agencies and has worked for decades with development in Africa. It has also provides prevention, treatment and care in HIV and AIDS affected communities since the pandemic started.
Meier, like others, called for a concrete plan to ensure the implementation of the G-8 pledges – such as each G-8 government setting up a year-by-year plan to meet their commitments.
The G-8 leaders did, however, lay out specific figures for prevention of mother-to-child transmission and pediatric treatment. More than a third of all children born to HIV-positive mothers in developing nations develop HIV because their mothers have no access to medicine or information to prevent the child's infection.
President Bush said the United States will take responsibility for $30 billion or half the total G-8 pledge amount. Last week Bush had announced plans to double the U.S. AIDS commitment from $15 to $30 billion over the course of five years. His announcement drew praises from religious leaders and aid organizations.
