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"Marshall Plan" for African AIDS crisis

Irish musician and activist Bob Geldof on Wednesday urged Ethiopia's general public and government officials to acknowledge the scale of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the country. Currently on his first official visit to Ethiopia since the "Live AID" concert in 1985, Geldof said the virus was crippling the impoverished country. "The situation here is catastrophic. This is really the equivalent of what the bubonic plague did in Europe. This should not be happening in the world." Geldof said he was looking to western governments to come up with a "Marshall Plan for Africa", with each country pledging 0.16 percent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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