French-German summit : financial commitments to fight AIDS must be honored

On January 22 and 23 President Chirac and Chancellor Schröder will meet in Paris and Berlin. On the agenda : coordinating the foreign policies of the two countries as well as preparing the G8 summit which will take place in France from June 1 to 3.

With 3.6 million deaths in 2002, the AIDS epidemic is one of the greatest threats to mankind. In July 2001 in Genoa, France, Germany and the other G8 countries announced they were launching the Global Fund to raise the necessary funding to defeat AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria- that is 10 billion dollars per year.

However, at present, France and Germany each devote less than 75 million euros per year to the struggle against AIDS and the other pandemics-that is hardly 0.005% of their GNPs.

In France and Germany, two civil society campaigns have been launched. They are asking for a radically increased financial contribution from the two richest countries in Europe.

The financial commitments made by Germany and France at the special session of the United Nations in June 2001 must be increased. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is responsible for the loss of millions of human lives. To protect these lives and the socio-economic systems of poor countries from the impact of the epidemic, the governments of developed countries must come to decisions and set clear priorities.