Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - July 13, 2004
The focus of their disappointment was the lack of a significant financial contribution from the US administration to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, an agency in need of a fresh cash injection. The three diseases kill more than six million people each year, mostly in African and Asian countries.
The US also came under fire for its promotion of sexual abstinence instead of condom use, and for its attempts to block access to cheap drugs in poor nations.
Activists attending the 15th International Aids Conference demanded Washington pay more attention to the Global Fund instead of pursuing its own agenda by favouring bilateral deals on Aids with other countries.
The US is the largest donor to the fund, launched in 2002, having recently announced its plan to contribute US$15 billion (600 billion baht) over the next five years.
Washington had taken the leading role in the fund and "the US is the first country there", defended an official representing Randall Tobias, the US Global Aids Coordinator.
But it was not enough for the activists who even praised Thailand as having done more than the US in helping the fund. Thailand has decided to give US$1 million (40 million baht ) a year for five years to the fund, a main instrument in fighting Aids.
They also criticised the Bush administration for undermining the Doha Round of the World Trade Organisation in order to protect its lucrative pharmaceutical industry.
The trade talks, which are deadlocked and seem poised to miss the agreement deadline set for January next year, call for less developed and developing countries to have greater access to cheap anti-retroviral drugs.
The Global Fund remains about $100 million short of its targeted $1.65 billion budget desired for activities this year.
Health advocates have fretted that the financial problem could hamper efforts to combat Aids and that the victims will be patients in poor countries mainly in the African continent.
In the Asia and Pacific region alone, at least $5 billion is needed to curb the rise of Aids prevalence, according to UNAids deputy executive director Kathleen Cravero.
Richard Feachem, director of the Global Fund, called for closer cooperation among the private sector, government officials and community leaders to better utilise the money channelled to their countries.
Another concern for health workers is the redundancy of projects supported by developed countries.
Praful Patel, vice president of the World Bank for South Asia, said the governments of countries receiving financial help from donor countries needed to take a leading role in managing projects to prevent duplication instead of leaving the matter with the financial contributors.
The recipient should "be tough with the donors", he said.
Meanwhile, Tom Kitt, Irish Minister of State for Development Cooperation and Human Rights, said that the European nations were in the process of setting up a meeting with the US administration to discuss suggested guidelines in giving long-term funding support to developing countries with serious HIV/Aids problems.
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