United Press International - December 12, 2002
Kathy A. Gambrell, UPI White House Reporter

The International HIV Treatment Access Coalition, which includes The World Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS and UNAIDS, will provide technical assistance to developing nations to help them access lower cost anti-retro-viral drugs.

"We have come together to discuss scaling up access to treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS and delivering AIDS treatment to the millions in Africa who need them. We have set ourselves quite a task, one in which the realities of poverty and inequality will confront us daily, but this challenge we must confront and win," said Tomris T rmen, Executive Director of Family and Community Health for the World Health Organization.

The World Health Organization reports that 42 million people are living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. Sub-Saharan Africa has 29.4 million people who are HIV positive -- the highest number in the world. North Africa and the Middle East have 550,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, the group said.

David Stanton, chief of the U.S. Agency of International Development's Office of HIV/AIDS research division, told United Press International that the agency was a part of the new coalition and that the Bush administration was committed to supporting expanded access programs, an issue that has bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress.

USAID has set aside $193 million of its $510 million budget to focus on the problem in Africa. The agency has identified 23 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and Asia, for education, prevention and assistance programs. The coalition effort comes, Stanton said, as resources from the international community have begun to increase.

USAID funding is supporting prevention and education programs in the region, as well as programs geared towards preventing mother-to-child virus transmission.

The agency is also helping to pay school fees and providing economic support to families caring for children who have lost one or both parents to AIDS. It is also helping those families create businesses to supplement their income.

"We support a set of activities that include communication efforts making sure people are aware of HIV and how it's transmitted, and behavior change communication to impress upon people the importance of limiting sexual partners and delaying sexual activity if you're a young person," said Stanton.

The agency wants to stay away from opening orphanages, which Stanton said would encourage the abandonment of children. It also is funding voluntary counseling and HIV testing.

The pandemic is being viewed by the United States as a national security issue that could ultimately have an adverse impact on the global economy.

Governments and other donors have pledged more than $2.1 billion to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, of which the bulk will be spent on HIV/AIDS, according to a report released by the coalition. The World Bank's AIDS program is expected to disburse some $1 billion for Africa and another $155 million for the Caribbean over the next three to five years.

In June Bush proposed $500 million for anti-viral drugs, medical staff training and programs aimed at preventing pregnant women in African and Caribbean nations from spreading the HIV virus to their children. Stanton said the program, which has more than 100 sites in 12 countries, would be scaled up over the next five years.

The program was meant to complement the Global Fund to which the United States government donated an additional $500 million. Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., had co-sponsored a bill seeking a $1 billion increase in the U.S. contribution to the global fund in fiscal year 2003, which begins Oct. 1. The bill is pending before the full U.S. Senate.

Last year, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo met with Bush at the White House, where the president contributed $200 million to the global fund, a so-called war chest for the battle against the infectious disease. He then dispatched Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson to lead a U.S. task force on AIDS that worked in conjunction with the international community.

The administration and AIDS activists have had to battle some reservations from African leaders on the effectiveness of anti-viral drug use to combat the spread of infection.

Last year, South African President Thabo Mbeki drew sharp criticism for snubbing a U.N. AIDS summit as escalating death rates were plaguing his country. He had also been taken to task for his comments questioning the link between HIV and AIDS. He has since backed off from that position, however. Also, an activist group threatened to take Mbeki to court over his refusal to provide drug treatment for HIV-infected pregnant women.

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