1. Home
  2. Africa
  • News

US cannot buy political support - HIV/AIDS activists

South Africa's Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) on Thursday said it was concerned a recent US $15 billion pledge by US President George W. Bush to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean could come with political strings.

"While we may welcome the US pledge to assist the African continent in fighting the pandemic, we can only hope that this money does not become a means of buying our political support for a proposed war against Iraq," TAC national treatment and literacy coordinator, Sipho Mthathi, told the UN news service Plusnews.

Meanwhile, TAC said the South African government had until the end of February 2003 to announce a comprehensive treatment plan or face a civil-disobedience campaign.


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

Share this article

Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian

Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

Join