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Fighting
Aids May Cost $9B
NEW
YORK (AP) - The world's poorest countries will soon need $9.2
billion a year to deal with AIDS, a study concludes - $4.4 billion
to treat people with the illness and $4.8 billion to prevent new
infections.
Half the money
will be needed in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the report
in Friday's issue of the journal Science. Current spending on
AIDS prevention and treatment in the 135 countries that were studied
amounts to about $1.8 billion.
Worldwide,
36 million people have HIV and 15,000 more become infected daily.
In the last six months, many countries, especially in Africa,
have vowed to increase their dedication to fighting AIDS.
Representatives
of 180 nations will meet in New York next week for a special U.N.
session on AIDS. The meeting is mostly an effort to publicize
the seriousness of the pandemic and appeal for financial assistance.
``This is
a battle that we will be fighting for years to come,'' U.N. deputy
secretary-general Louise Frechette said.
Waging such
a war would require expanding prevention efforts, including education,
testing and condom distribution programs. It would also require
treatment for more of the infected population. Only a small fraction
of people with AIDS in the most affected countries now receive
the life-extending drugs and other treatments available in the
developed world.
Cost is the
major obstacle.
``The national
governments are saying, we can't afford ourselves to give this
antiretroviral therapy,'' said Laurie Bollinger of the Futures
Group International, a consulting firm that contributed to the
study.
In the developed
world, the ``triple-drug cocktail'' that has been so effective
in extending the lives of people infected with HIV costs about
$3,500 each year per person. Even if price breaks drop the cost
to $450 for those in the poorest countries, the researchers found
that additional assistance will be needed to help pay for it.
The United
Nations has proposed establishing a global AIDS fund that would
help provide the money. Pledges have come in from the Bill and
Melinda Gates foundation, Coca-Cola, the U.S. government and other
sources.
``I would
say that is very good for a fund that doesn't exist yet,'' Frechette
said.
But some contributions
have come from donors who have said they favor spending on prevention
rather than treatment. Some experts contend that prevention is
a more cost-effective means of stopping AIDS. Others consider
that stance tantamount to standing by while millions die.
``If some
of the donors decide they don't want to treat that's going to
cause serious problems,'' said Daniel Berman, a campaign coordinator
for Doctors Without Borders. ``Countries are not going to be viable
if 25 percent of the population are left to die.''
Developed
countries now dedicate about $1 billion a year to fighting AIDS
beyond their borders.
Overall, the
authors of the Science paper noted, a contribution of $4 billion
to $5 billion by developed countries would represent an increase
of only 7 percent to 10 percent over what they already spend on
foreign development assistance. The United States sent $10 billion
in foreign development aid in 1999.
On the Net:
http://www.unaids.org
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/facts.htm
Reference
Source 101
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