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Monday
Mar 15th

UN agency says funds to fight AIDS reach US$8 billion

New York, US - A new report by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) on Monday said that resources to tackle the AIDS epidemic worldwide had reached US$8 billion in 2008.

In a statement issued in New York, it stated that, the actual resources available to combat the virus surged 56 per cent from 2007, reaching US$7.7 billion, while commitments from developed countries climbed from U$6.6 billion in 2007 to $8.7 billion last year.

The statement also said the U.S. provided the bulk of the funding with 4 billion dollars.

It noted that the U.S. is followed by the UK, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Norway and Sweden.

It disclosed that commitments and disbursements made by wealthier nations increased five-fold between 2002 and 2008.

As a portion of a country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the Netherlands contributes most to fighting AIDS, followed by the United Kingdom and the US, the report said.

It, however, said that the data in the new study was gathered before the acceleration of the current global and economic crisis, which could threaten future funding for the global effort to fight the epidemic.
 
New York - 13/07/2009

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