G8’s Pledge of $1.3 Billion to Global AIDS Fund a ‘Pittance,’ Philadelphia Inquirer Says
"It is sad that, with its announcement about the pledges to the AIDS fund, the G8 conference was able to seize the PR high ground," an editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer states. The commentary piece calls the G8's pledge of $1.3 billion to the Global AIDS and Health Fund created by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan "a comparative pittance." Considering that the combined GDP of the United States and other G8 countries reaches $30 trillion and that these nations account for two-thirds of the global economic output, $1.3 billion is "a handful of change thrown at an epidemic that has become the modern-day equivalent of the bubonic plague." The amount also falls "far short" of the $7 billion to $10 billion sought by Annan for the treatment and prevention fund to be effective. But $1.3 billion "still makes for a good sound bite," the editorial says, adding, "It's enough to be spun into good PR by rich nations desperately in need of a softer image. ... Just remember, [HIV/AIDS] isn't fooled by PR" (Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/24).
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