China and India wanted to donate

The Global Fund is setting plans to bring China and India into the donor pool according to AHN.

Global Fund, an organization dedicated to the fight against AIDS, has urged India and China --- two of the fastest-growing economies in the world --- to pool in their resources to fight the dreaded disease.

At the 18th World AIDS Conference, which concluded Saturday, Global Fund's Executive Director, Michel Kazatchkine, said the deficit in funds could be "bridged" by "innovative financing" and assistance from the emerging economies.

China and India have received huge funding from international bodies for their AIDS programs, but Global Fund said, the time had come for the two Asian giants to start donating as well. "I believe that in a globalizing world, in a world where countries like China are joining, and want to join, world governance, at a time when the G8 is becoming the G20, it is right for these countries to take up a share of the burden," Kazatchkine told the conference.

Kazatchkine is planning to place a $20 billion requirement --- from 2011-2013 --- to combat the disease when a crucial Global Fund meeting takes place in October. Besides AIDS, the organization also funds the fight against tuberculosis and malaria.

Kazatchkine said he was not expecting huge contributions from China and India as the two countries were also grappling with their domestic problems and poverty, but added that, "In terms of GNP per head, China ranks in the hundreds in the world league table. I don't say it is a poor country." Recent statistics suggest there has been a disconcerting slump in the funding received from Western donors to combat AIDS.