Health GAP
www.healthgap.org

For Immediate Release: September 21, 2004
Contact: Robert Dabney +1(267)467-4683
Sharonann Lynch +1(646)645-5225

AIDS ACTIVISTS RESPOND TO PRESIDENT BUSH'S U.N. ADDRESS

Misrepresentation of U.S. Record & Missed Opportunity for the World's Poor

(Manhattan) Health GAP, the U.S.-based AIDS activist organization, issued the following statement today following President Bush's address before the United Nations General Assembly:

"President Bush continued to ignore the suffering of 40 million people living with HIV around the world today by his failure to call for full cancellation of the debt that is crippling poor countries' healthcare and education systems, " said Sharonann Lynch, Director of International Policy for Health GAP.

Bush's address to the UN General Assembly comes one week before finance ministers of the wealthiest nations and the World Bank and International Monetary Fund meet to discuss debt cancellation for the world's poorest countries

"The president failed to commit the U.S. to real progress in the fight against AIDS. He has deliberately refused to ask his fellow world leaders to support a measure that would lift the burden of debt faced by poor countries. Canceling the debt for the poorest nations in the world is an absolute 'must' that cannot wait, said Paul Davis of Health GAP. "While Mr. Bush has consistently called for debt cancellation for Iraq, he refuses to apply the same standard for poor countries amidst the most serious health crisis on earth."

On the continent of Africa, poor countries are spending $15 billion every year to service debts to wealthy nations and financial institutions. Zambia for example, where the average life expectancy is less than 33 years and 20 percent of the adult population is infected with HIV, spends $76 million on its health budget and $89 million on debt service to the IMF and World Bank. Over the past three years, Nigeria has paid wealthy creditors $4.7 billion. In one year alone, debt servicing was nine times more than the country's spending on health.

"The global community is supporting a measure that would cancel 100% of the debt and allow 50 of the poorest countries to redirect those funds to life-saving programs such as the fight against AIDS. Once again, the United States has chosen not to work in collaboration with its international neighbors," continued Davis.

"During his speech the president rattled of a laundry list of poorly funded and fledgling initiatives in the fight against AIDS. The United States has not provided its fair share to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The naked truth is that The Global Fund will need $3.5 billion to fund the renewal of life-saving programs in 2005 and provide new financing based on quality proposals," said Asia Russell of Health GAP. "So far, wealthy donor nations, following the lead of the United States with its less-than-requested contribution, have pledged a mere $880 million, which is not enough to keep these programs running." This year, the president's budget request for the Global Fund is 64% lower than the amount funded by Congress last year.

The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, touted at the UN by Bush as the $15 billion, 5 year unilateral program, was due to provide treatment for 500,000 people living with AIDS, has thus far reached less than 5% of this goal set by Congress one-and-a-half years into its implementation.

"Rather than bringing 'new hope to those who have walked too long in the shadow of death' as the president claimed, Bush refuses to take action to aid nations struggling to fight AIDS under the constraints of debt and lack of adequate funding," said Allison Dinsmore of Health GAP.

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