Developed Nations Must Follow U.S. Lead in AIDS Assistance, Financial Times Says

While many improvements could be made on the U.S. global AIDS policy recently signed by President Bush, the country has "surprised many in leading the fight against" the epidemic and it is "time for others to follow," a Financial Times editorial says. Assisting African nations in their fight against AIDS is "vital" to helping these nations "escape from ... chronic poverty," the editorial says. Bush's challenge to other G8 nations to make similar financial commitments is therefore "spot on," according to the Times. While such a challenge is "certain to grate with other leaders ... weasel words about finance from European countries and Japan would be grossly inadequate," the editorial says. Criticism that U.S. support for AIDS assistance has a "large element of political grandstanding" and does not include all new money and that the United States provides "considerably less" overall development assistance than other nations "cannot detract from the surprising, substantial and new U.S. commitment to begin to turn the tide against the spread of [HIV] in developing countries," the Times concludes (Financial Times, 5/29).