President Bush Should Push Debt Relief for African Countries To Help Fight AIDS, Opinion Piece Says

President Bush has a "great opportunity ... to initiate a new round of debt relief" -- which is "an important weapon in the war on AIDS" -- during the G8 summit this weekend, Marie Clarke, national coordinator of Jubilee USA Network, writes in a Philadelphia Inquirer opinion piece. Clarke says that countries that benefit from debt relief are able to invest in national HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment plans, which can play a "key role" in reducing HIV/AIDS prevalence. Clarke says that no African country facing an AIDS emergency should have to devote more than 5% of its annual budget to debt payment, which would allow the nations "to redirect their scarce revenues to spending on education, health [and] the fight against HIV/AIDS." Bush "must challenge the other G8 leaders not only to give Africa money for AIDS but also to stop taking money from Africa for debt repayment with the other hand," she concludes (Clarke, Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/30).