TORONTO, Aug 18, 2006 (AFP) - The United Nations special envoy for AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis, accused G8 leaders of a "betrayal" of developing countries for not keeping their funding promises in the fight against AIDS.

"The Pavlovian betrayal of the South has already begun," Lewis said at the close of the 16th International AIDS Conference here.

"It is almost unconceivable that the extravagant promises of Gleneagles (G8 summit) are reveled as so fatuous that the Global Fund is now compromised," he said, pointing out that the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and malaria is short half a billion dollars this year and more than one billion next year.

"At the moment there is no obvious way to close the shortfall," he said. "Everything in the battle against AIDS is put at risk by the behavior of the G8."

The world's seven richest nations with Russia had pledged at the July 2005 summit to provide universal access to treatment for AIDS sufferers in Africa until 2010.

The G8 nations had also promised to help support children orphaned by AIDS on the continent and double their donations to the Global Fund.

A total 8.3 billion dollars were donated in 2005. But 15 billion dollars are needed this year, 18 billion dollars next year, and 22 billion dollars in 2008, Lewis said.

Governments that would like to continue to expand their treatment and prevention initiatives in Africa are "spooked" by the funding shortfall, he said.

The US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has not yet announced an extension of the program beyond 2008, but Lewis suggested the United States would continue to distribute three billion dollars annually.

Lewis deemed this amount to be "pretty paltry from the world superpower."

"This issue of resources makes or breaks the response to the pandemics," Lewis added.

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