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July 25 2003 at 06:24PM |
By Niala Boodhoo
Washington - Aids activists were outraged and analysts said United States credibility in the region would be hurt after the US House of Representatives passed a bill authorising a billion dollars less in Aids funding than they had expected.
US President George Bush signed a bill in May calling for $15-billion (about R120-billion) over five years to combat HIV and Aids, especially in Africa and the Caribbean. However, the White House later asked for $2-billion in funding for 2004 and threatened to veto a final foreign aid bill that shifted money to global Aids.
The bill didn't specify how Congress was going to produce the $15-billion, but activists had expected $3-billion a year over the five-year period.
| 'It's betrayal of those orphans that he hugged' |
"It's betrayal of those orphans that he hugged and the people dying of Aids that he comforted," said Paul Zietz, executive director of the Global Aids Alliance, referring to a visit that Bush made to an Aids clinic in Uganda two weeks ago where he repeated his pledge to spend $15-billion to fight the disease in the next five years.
White House spokesperson Scott McClellan said Bush was happy the money was authorised and was committed to the $15-billion pledge.
"The president proposed a $15-billion emergency plan to provide relief to those who are suffering and help turn the tide against the scourge of Aids. We are pleased that Congress is moving forward to pass funding at the level needed to get things up and running," he said.
The worst hit region, sub-Saharan Africa, has 29,4 million people infected with the virus that causes Aids, according to UNAIDS. In four countries - Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe - more than 30 percent of the adult population have the virus, according to UNAIDS.
| 'They need to feel the US is a party they can count on' |
"I think there a lot of people who want to work with the US, but they need to feel the US is a party they can count on," said Harvard University economics professor Michael Kremer, adding it feeds scepticism when "there's a cutback from $3-billion to $2-billion, particularly when you put it in the context of Liberia."
The US is under pressure to send troops to halt fighting in Liberia, founded by freed American slaves in 1847.
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