Today, Act Up-Paris activists are calling Nicolas Sarkozy’s cabinet members relentlessly to remind them of the new French President’s promises.
Since he was elected president in May, French AIDS organizations Act Up-Paris, AIDES, Sidaction and Solidarité Sida sent three letters to President Sarkozy requesting an urgent meeting. The organizations wanted to engage him about a decision he has to make in the coming days: the life or death of millions of people living with HIV in poor countries. We wanted to talk to him about France’s pledge to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis. The President’s office did not give any reply whatsoever to any of our letters.
This week, we learned that among the developed countries, France might turn out to be the only to freeze its contribution to the Global Fund, limiting it to 300 million euros a year, instead of the 600 million due by 2010. Where have Nicolas Sarkozy’s promises gone? At the G8 summit, he publicly announced that “France will now contribute 1 billion dollars a year to improve health in Africa” and “France is prepared to do more for the Global Fund”.
We cannot wait any longer for his answer. On September 25-28, the Global Fund Replenishment Conference in Berlin will see every country announce its financial commitment for the upcoming period. The amount France will pledge is about to be set, yet Nicolas Sarkozy still doesn’t want to meet with the people living with HIV/AIDS. Is he afraid of being caught in a lie, he who keeps saying that “he does what he says”?
