British government donates 27.5 million pounds to global fight against AIDS

The British government announced Thursday a donation of 27.5 million pounds (about 47.6 million US dollars) to fund the prevention and cure programs of the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) disease worldwide.

The donation, which was announced on the occasion of the World AIDS Day, includes 20 million pounds (34.6 million dollars) to the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and 7.5 million pounds (about 13 million dollars) to the research of microbicides that could protect against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said in a statement that "the AIDS crisis represents a human tragedy for the more than 40 million men, women and children suffering from the disease around the world."

"As president of the G8 and the EU, the U.K. is showing leadership in the global fight against AIDS through a strong commitment to increased prevention and treatment," he added.

At July's G8 summit in Scotland, the leaders of the industrial nations pledged to join efforts to expand access to AIDS treatment worldwide by 2010.

However, the House of Commons International Development Committee said in a report on Thursday that the "increasingly moralistic" tone by the United States is greatly hampering the AIDS prevention programs.

The report criticized the United States for backing programs that encourage sexual abstinence while opposing the distribution of condoms to people.

Source: Xinhua