U.S. Needs to Increase Funding to the Global Fund, Editorial Says
It would be "foolish" for the United States and "all wealthier nations" not to donate to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial states. Although the Global Fund "was created too recently to have built a track record, the same can't be said of the AIDS epidemic," the editorial says, noting that a recent National Intelligence Council report "warn[ed] that AIDS threatens global stability and our national security." The Global Fund is estimated to need $8 billion or more in fiscal year 2003, but so far has received pledges of only $2.1 billion for the next five years, the editorial notes. Wealthy nations, citing concerns about the fund's operation, have been hesitant to contribute. However, "if wealthier nations won't cough up the cash on behalf of the millions of infected and soon-to-be infected people in faraway countries, they ought to do it for their own citizens," the editorial says, noting that the threat posed by HIV/AIDS "is at least as real as danger posed by terrorism." The Journal-Constitution concludes, "We can pay now, or we can pay later. The longer we ignore it, the costlier it will be" (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 10/16).
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