United Press International - Monday, February 23, 2004
David J. Kent, United Press International

The majority of the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief -- or some $9 billion -- is earmarked for programs in 15 focus countries that account for more than 50 percent of the world's HIV infections, said Randall Tobias, U.S. Global AIDS coordinator.

Fourteen of the 15 focus countries have been chosen, Tobias said, adding he was in the process of determining the 15th.

The plan also sets aside about $5 billion for about 100 countries that currently operate bilateral AIDS relief programs, while the remaining $1 billion has been earmarked for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, Tobias said.

The program concentrates on a cornerstone of President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address, in which he recommended $15 billion in foreign aid over five years to treat 2 million people infected with the AIDS virus, prevent 7 million deaths from the disease and care for 10 million people infected with the virus in the focus countries.

"These target areas were chosen because they are the heart of the treatment, prevention and care goals that are the focus of President Bush's plan," Tobias said.

The program will rely on efforts from other countries, as well as faith-based groups and private organizations, that have been proven to work in the past, Tobias told reporters at a news briefing. He added the administration will work with international partners such as UNAIDS, World Health Organization and non-governmental organizations.

Several AIDS watchdog groups were critical of Bush's choice to establish his own assistance plan rather than contribute larger amounts to the Global Fund, however.

The budget released Monday allots a combined $200 million to the fund.

Paul Zeitz, director of the Washington-based Global AIDS Alliance, told United Press International he was disappointed with the fund.

"They're not impressing anyone with this amount as their commitment," he said.

Zeitz noted the Global Fund is facing a very serious shortfall, and commented the United States should be contributing as much as one-third of the world's demand -- or a $1.2 billion share -- this year alone.

"We're about $1 billion short," he said.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, who chairs the Global Fund and whose department receives $109 million from the current approval, called the effort unprecedented.

"We have recognized our responsibility as a nation, and we're meeting that responsibility," Thompson said, adding a pandemic like AIDS requires the cooperation of other countries.

"The United States will provide unprecedented resources but the crisis of global AIDS is so vast, it's too great for any one country to solve," he said.

Tobias said the plan will be based on four main cornerstones: forming integrated prevention and care programs that build on existing systems and infrastructures; finding new partnerships; seeking strong leadership to fight AIDS, and developing strategies for learning and budgeting.

"I do not want to underestimate for a moment the degree of difficulty associated with what we are taking on, but I do believe we can bring hope and I do believe we can really make a huge difference," Tobias said.

As UPI reported in a special series on AIDS last fall, in the world today, 43-million people living with HIV, which causes AIDS. Of that total, 29.4 million live in sub-Saharan Africa, including 3.5 million of the 5-million people worldwide who will be infected with HIV this year. In Africa, 16 nations have disease prevalence rates exceeding 10 percent -- 20 times that of Western nations.

- David Kent is a UPI Science News intern. E-mail sciencemail@upi.com
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