Germany undecided over matching US AIDS commitment

Date: 10/07/03

AS THE final preparations are made for a major international conference on AIDS, Germany has still not decided if it will lift its objections to the European Union matching American contributions to the struggle against Africa's biggest killer.

Participants in last month's Thessaloniki summit of EU leaders said Berlin, the biggest net contributor to the Union's budget, and The Hague had blocked a proposal to allocate &036;1 billion (€858 million) to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

Anti-poverty campaigners, backed by Britain's Tony Blair and France's Jacques Chirac, advocated that the Union should provide that sum as George W. Bush has promised a &036;1-billion-per-annum donation to the fund over a five year period.

However, the US president's pledge came with the proviso that other rich countries, mainly EU member states and Japan, give corresponding amounts.

Instead of rejecting the &036;1 billion call out of hand, the EU-15 agreed to decide on their collective contribution to the fund in time for the International AIDS Society conference in Paris (13-16 July).

That gathering will be jointly hosted by the French government and the fund's current president, US Health Secretary Tommy Thompson.

But an aide to German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer confirmed talks aimed at overcoming the German reluctance - caused by the domestic economic downturn - to agree higher funding are "still ongoing".

"There was this resistance in Thessaloniki that prevented the mention of the &036;1 billion in the [summit] conclusions," the official added.

"We will all have to wait and see what's going to happen in Paris."

Campaign group the Stop AIDS Alliance is urging Berlin to ensure the EU boosts its contribution to fighting the AIDS pandemic, which claims 9,000 lives per day, most of which are in Africa.

Wanjiku Kamau, European policy advisor to the Alliance, contended the Germans are "quite out of step" as they have previously been supportive of initiatives targetting the disease.

"We want to see them taking the leadership role they traditionally take, notwithstanding the current resource constraints in Germany," she added.

In the run up to a major international conference on AIDS, the German government has yet to decide if it will lift its objections to the European Union matching American contributions to the struggle against the disease in Africa.