PARIS, April 24 (AFP) - Africa has the will but not the means to overcome its HIV-AIDS pandemic on its own, the head of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) said Tuesday, appealing for seven billion dollars to fight the scourge.
Writing in an editorial appearing in Tuesday's International Herald Tribune ahead of a summit on AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis to be held in the Nigerian capital Abuja, Salim Ahmed Salim said: "A united, high-level and sustained global effort is needed."
The comment, co-written by Kingsley Amoako, head of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, said: "The 700 million dollar annual assistance currently offered must be multiplied at least tenfold."
At least 47 African heads of state have said they will attend the summit, jointly organized by the OAU and the United Nations, on Thursday and Friday.
Africa is home to 25.3 million of the 36.1 million people infected worldwide with the HIV virus which causes AIDS, according to year-end statistics from 2000.
"Africans across the political spectrum are united as never before," the editorial said. "The Abuja summit is the signal to all institutions that they must fight this pandemic," the editorial said.
However, it added: "We simply do not have the resources ... International solidarity is therefore imperative. We need cheap drugs and emergency assistance to fund HIV programs."
Salim and Amoako, saying the summit would focus on the prevention of HIV transmission, urged African leaders and parents to "be ready to talk frankly and openly to children about sexuality. Our African traditions cry out against such open discussion, but we must change."
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