US urges 'global unity' in fight against Aids

The United States today urged its legions of detractors to end their bickering over condoms and drug patents and join with Washington in a global partnership to fight Aids.

“At this point, perhaps the most critical mistake we can make is to allow this pandemic to divide us,” Randall Tobias, the US Aids coordinator, said in a speech to the International Aids Conference in Bangkok.

“We are striving toward the same goal a world free of HIV/Aids. When 8,000 lives are lost to Aids every day, division is a luxury we cannot afford,” he said.

The United States has come under intense criticism this week at the six-day conference over its Aids policies, with activists, scientists and governments finding fault with nearly every Washington policy on HIV.

Its insistent on abstinence as a first line of defence against HIV has been ridiculed as unworkable by proponents of condoms. Tobias said that while the United States is not against condoms, an abstinence campaign in Uganda shows that the contraceptive is not the only solution.

“Abstinence works being faithful works condoms work. Each has its place,” he said.

Tobias said the United States was spending nearly twice as much to fight global Aids as the rest of the world’s donor governments combined.

US President George Bush has pledged $14.8bn (€12bn) over five years under a so-called “Emergency Plan” to combat Aids in Vietnam and 14 countries in Africa and the Caribbean.

“By its actions, the United States has challenged the rest of the world to take action. Please join with us in our deepened commitment to the global fight against HIV/Aids,” he said.

Critics say the money comes with strings attached – it goes to countries that support its abstinence-first policy. Also, the money currently can only buy brand-name drugs, usually American, shutting out cheaper generic medicines made by developing countries.

A UN-launched Global Fund allows generic drugs, costing as little as €150 per person per year while those approved under the US plan are €600, said Joia Mukherjee, medical director of Partners in Health, which helps treat poor people in Haiti.

Tobias said Washington insists on branded drugs only because their quality has been tested and proved beyond doubt by the US Food and Drug Administration. However, the agency has indicated it would accelerate any applications for approval by generic drug makers.

“America will not have one health standard for her own citizens and a lower standard of ’good enough’ for those suffering elsewhere,” he said.