A worldwide scheme to fight AIDS received fine words but little new cash to bridge a looming funding gap this year as ministers from 14 countries met in Paris today.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which has committed $1.5 billion to programmes in 92 countries in the last 18 months, faces a lack of money for schemes waiting to be funded at its next board meeting in October.
Officials revised down earlier estimates of the 2003 shortfall to some $400 million, because many projects awaiting approval are now expected to be turned down.
Hopes of major new pledges from Europe after US President George W. Bush promised $15 billion to fight AIDS over five years were dashed this week when the European Commission made clear it would not be putting new cash on the table.
Diplomatic sources said Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands remained sceptical about the fund and had blocked increased EU funding.
Washington and Brussels both claim to be outspending each other, with the United States the biggest single donor to the Global Fund but the European Union and its member states together providing 55 per cent of total pledges.
AIDS activists outside the conference protested the foot-dragging of rich nations in committing new money to the Global Fund.
Wearing masks of US President George W. Bush, Blair and Chirac, they carried shovels and 16 body bags to represent the 16,000 people that die worldwide each day from AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
"The world's richest countries talk a lot about the emergency of AIDS," Bono said in a statement.
"But you don't fight a raging forest fire with incrementally bigger watering cans. You call the fire brigade to fight the crisis and stop it raging out of control," the front-man for super-group U2 said.
The fund, created early last year at the urging of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, is also seeking increased funding from the private sector.