Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - December 1, 2004
In an interview being broadcast Wednesday to mark World Aids Day, Blair said good leadership, locally and internationally, and financial investment were effective in combating the illness.
More than 26 million Africans are infected with HIV , and an estimated 15 million have died from AIDS, including many people from the continent's relatively small educated and business class.
"Part of the problem is that I think people get fatigued and tired with looking at Africa because it all seems so hopeless," Blair told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.
"It isn't. There are things that can be done and there are real success stories," he added, citing Uganda as an example.
"The thing that has worked in respect of combating AIDS is when you've had a well financed program, locally led, with accessible health and educational help for people there."
The prime minister said that helping Africa would make the world a safer place.
"If we create a continent of alienation, desperate poverty, war and disease, we know enough about the modern world to know there are issues there.
"But it is also a moral question. One in six African children is dying. It is a terrible situation -and it is preventable."
Blair said he would make African issues, including HIV/AIDS, one of the priorities of the U.K.'s presidency of the Group of Eight industrialized nations next year.
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