PHA-Exchange> 17 - In preparation of PHA II

[Claudio]

Debt relief and AIDS
From: "A. Odutola" <chpss_abo2 at yahoo.com> (a repeat posting)
> --
> Deeper debt relief will better help poor countries to fight AIDS
> 
 In January 2003 President Bush pro-
> posed the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, calling on Congress to 
> spend an additional $10 billion over the next five years to help 
> countries in Africa and the Caribbean fight AIDS. The US announced 
> that 14 countries with the highest rates of HIV infection in Africa 
> and the Caribbean would be the targeted beneficiaries of the addi-
> tional $10 billion.
> 
> However, according to the United Nations Development Program statis-
> tics, in the same period these 14 countries would pay approximately 
> $36 billion in total debt-servicing to their creditors in the rich 
> countries
> 
> Each year these countries will continue to pay out more money than 
> they will receive from the President's AIDS initiative
> 
> US Senate AIDS Proposal Would Have Helped
> 
> The AIDS bill that passed the US Senate unanimously last year, spon-
> sored by Senators Frist and Kerry, would have:
> 
> * Lowered debt so that no qualifying highly indebted poor country 
> pays more than 5% of its budget on debt service annually (10% if the 
> country has no AIDS or health crisis). Currently, the 26 HIPCs at 
> decision point pay 15% of their budgets on debt.
> 
> * Reduced poor country debt payments by a $1 billion every year. Cur-
> rently, the heavily indebted poor countries spend $2 billion every 
> year in debt service that could otherwise go to health, education and 
> the fight against AIDS.
> 
> Examples of How Debt Relief Helps Fight AIDS
> 
> In dozens of countries, debt relief savings have helped to fund the 
> fight against HIV/AIDS. Here are only a few examples:
> 
> * Uganda, the first country to receive debt relief used US$ 1.3 mil-
> lion of its debt savings specifically for their national HIV/AIDS 
> plan. This investment played a key role in the government's success 
> in reducing HIV infection rates by 40%
> 
> * Cameroon received a US$ 114 million cut in debt service. With help 
> from debt savings, a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategic plan 
> for was launched. The plan included promoting behavior change among 
> young people, making voluntary testing and counseling widely avail-
> able and preventing HIV transmission from pregnant women to their ba-
> bies.
> 
> * Malawi received a cut in debt service of 30%, or US$ 28 million. 
> These funds financed the purchase of critical drugs for hospitals and 
> health centers, hiring extra staff and support in primary health cen-
> ters, and training new nurses.
> 
> Evidently, deeper debt relief and not adhoc grants-in-aid will help 
> many poor countries fight AIDS better and produce lasting and sus-
> tainable improvements in quality of life in these countries. 
> 
> Author contact:
> Mara Vanderslice 
> JUBILEE USA NETWORK 
> Phone: 202-783-0129
> 
> Source: Cross-posted as "fair use" from the Globalization and Health 
> Listserv (globalizationandhealth at topica.com). Feb. 27, 2003.