Global AIDS announced as priority for UK

British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has promised that tackling the global HIV/AIDS pandemic will top his government’s international agenda. The promise was made as part of the UK's recent "Call to Action", amid fresh criticism from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that the current response from the developed world still fell far short of what was needed to tackle the pandemic. In a recent report from the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), Blair said he was "personally determined that this country will not just step up its efforts bilaterally and internationally to tackle HIV/AIDS, but that we will also continue to offer the leadership needed to get the world to focus on what we must do together." UNAIDS now puts the UK’s funding at more than US $460 million - the second largest contribution after the US - accounting for 28 percent of the projected bilateral spending on HIV/AIDS this year.