Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report- Monday-July 23rd-2001
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*Congress Approves $100 Million for International AIDS Fight
*G8 Summit Concludes with Pledge to Support Fights Against AIDS,
Poverty in Developing Countries
* Annan to Choose Chair to Organize Global AIDS Fund Implementation
Congress Approves $100 Million for International AIDS Fight
Congress on Friday approved $6.5 billion in "additional government
spending" for the remainder of this fiscal year, including $100 mil-
lion for programs that fight AIDS in Africa and other parts of the
world, the New York Times reports. The House voted 375 to 30 to ap-
prove the "compromise appropriations bill," while the Senate passed
the measure by voice vote (Shenon, New York Times, 7/21). The appro-
priations bill, which now goes to President Bush for his signature,
covers the remaining 10 weeks of FY 2001, which ends on Sept. 30
(Fram, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/21).
G8 Summit Concludes with Pledge to Support Fights Against AIDS, Pov-
erty in Developing Countries
Amid violent protests that led to the death of one demonstrator,
leaders from the world's seven wealthiest nations and Russia yester-
day concluded the G8 summit in Genoa, Italy, pledging to fight AIDS
and poverty in developing countries, the Washington Times reports
(Sammon, Washington Times, 7/23). As expected, the leaders endorsed
the Global AIDS and Health Fund, intended to battle HIV/AIDS, malaria
and tuberculosis in the developing world, with initial donations to-
talling $1.3 billion (BBC News, 7/22). Meeting on the opening day of
the summit, President Bush joined the leaders of Great Britain,
France, Japan, Germany, Canada, Italy and Russia in announcing a for-
mal commitment to the fund, first proposed by U.N. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan (Hutcheson, Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/21). Bush announced
the U.S. contribution of $200 million in May; Britain and Japan have
matched that amount, Germany has pledged $150 million, France $120
million and numerous African countries a sum of roughly $12 million
(Sanger, New York Times, 7/21). Russia also announced on Friday that
it will contribute $20 million to the fund (Pagani, Reuters, 7/20).
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said, "We have high hopes to
see this fund rise to $2 billion" (Cox News/Baltimore Sun, 7/21).
Annan Praises G8
Annan, invited by Berlusconi to attend the summit, praised the con-
tributions, but said that more funding was necessary to tackle the
HIV/AIDS epidemic successfully. "For the first time, we are seeing
the emergence of a response to this deadly disease that begins to
match the scale of the epidemic itself. But the battle against AIDS
will not be won without the necessary resources. We need to mobilize
an additional $7 (billion) to $10 billion ... to fight this disease,"
he said (Drozdiak, Washington Post, 7/21). The New York Times reports
that Annan's message was one that the G8 leaders, "facing increas-
ingly slow economic times and tight budgets, would rather not have
heard" (New York Times, 7/21).
Annan to Choose Chair to Organize Global AIDS Fund Implementation
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan will select from a "short list of
candidates from the developing world" a leader to chair the transi-
tional working group charged with deciding how to implement and oper-
ate the Global AIDS and Health Fund, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The fund was formally launched last week at the G8 Summit in Genoa,
Italy, though the Journal reports the announcement was "largely a
public relations effort" since Annan has been raising money for the
fund since he created it in April. Short-list candidates for working-
group chair reportedly include Ugandan Health Minister Crispus Ki-
yonga, South African Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and
Mali's Health Minister Traore Fatoumata Nafo. Other reported candi-
dates are Lin See-Yan, former deputy governor of the Malaysian cen-
tral bank, and Tommy Koh, who is leading Singapore's free-trade nego-
tiations with the United States. The chair will be tasked with devel-
oping operational strategy for the fund, including how it will pay
for AIDS drugs and other medical supplies. Currently, European and
U.S. officials are in disagreement over how to use fund dollars to
purchase drugs, with the European Union in favor of using a tiered
pricing system to buy less-costly generic versions of patented drugs
and the Bush administration "wary of any approach that might lead to
the infringement of western patents." The chair will need the "nego-
tiating skills to get us on one page by Jan. 1," the fund's expected
operational date, a senior U.S. official said. Negotiators have al-
ready agreed that a panel of experts will review each proposed AIDS
project and decide funding appropriation. Once the fund is up and
running, the working-group chair will be replaced by the person who
will run the fund. Governments and private donors have thus far
pledged $1.3 billion for the fund, which is aimed at fighting AIDS,
tuberculosis and malaria, but Annan hopes to "ultimately generate an
extra $7 billion to $10 billion in annual spending on the infectious
diseases that ravage ... developing nations" (Phillips/Zimmerman,
Wall Street Journal, 7/23).
The Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report is published for kaisernetwork.org,
a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, by National
Journal Group Inc. c 2001 by National Journal Group Inc. and Kaiser
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