G8 agree to spend 60 bln USD to fight disease in Africa

from Walta Information Center

The Group of Eight leaders agreed Tuesday to spend 60 billion USD to fight disease in Africa over five years and reaffirmed commitments to double aid to the continent, AFP reported.

The G8 leaders, issuing a joint statement after talks in Japan, set a timeframe of five years to make good on promises made at last year's summit in Germany to spend 60 billion USD to fight malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis.

Specifically, the leaders set a goal of providing 100 million insecticide-treated nets by the end of 2010 to halt the spread of malaria in developing countries.

They also reconfirmed pledges made at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, in 2005 to boost aid to Africa by 25 billion USD by 2010.

Japan had called for this year's summit to focus on health and development as it comes halfway through the UN-backed Millennium Development Goals, which set the target of eradicating the world's worst poverty by 2015.

Link to full article. May expire in future.