In 2008 France will reduce by 20 million euros its contribution to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria[[ See the 2008 Finance Act.]] as confirmed by the 2008 Finance Act published in the French Governmental Register (Journal Officiel) on the 27th of December, 2007. Through the Global Fund, France contributed in 2007 to the treatment of 140 000 AIDS patients. Therefore this 7% decrease in funding amounts to the withdrawal of treatment for 10 000 people.
Tomorrow, on the 8th of January, 2008, at 6:30 pm, Nicolas Sarkozy will welcome the singer Bono, notably involved in the fight against AIDS. In no way shall this mask the responsibility of the President in terms of treatment withdrawal from patients living in the South.
On several occasions, Nicolas Sarkozy promised to increase the French contribution and to follow the commitment of rich countries to ensure universal access to treatment. On the 7th of June, 2007, at the G8, he thus announced: “ I have committed myself to providing universal access for treatment by 2010. ” The day after, he was still insistent: “ the G8 has committed itself to financing health in Africa up to 60 billion dollars for the coming years. The United States promised to fund half this amount. As for France, it will dedicate a billion dollars per year to Africa’s health. ” This statement committed France to an increase in its financial contribution.
In the world, only one third of patients needing treatments against AIDS will have access to them; in 2007, 2.1 million people died from AIDS according to UNAIDS.
The lowering of the French contribution equals to a false promise, showing that Nicolas Sarkosy is not the president who “ does what he says ”, contrary to what he likes to claim. It is first and foremost a criminal decision, condemning to death 10 000 people in 2008, not taking into account all the other patients who should have benefited from the promised French increase in financing. The President of France will also have to account for this.
