NYT: GOP Responsible for Delay on AIDS

NYT Editorial, July 7: Republican Delay on AIDS

"A tiny group of Republican senators continues to block a vote on an important bill to increase American spending on AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis around the world. Their obstructionism has deprived President Bush of a legislative achievement that could help him spur other industrialized nations to contribute substantially more money as they meet to discuss global issues in Japan this week.

But better late than never. It remains important to blast through the legislative roadblock and bring this broadly supported bill to a vote on the Senate floor, where it is sure to prevail on the merits. [..]

[..] If necessary, Senate Democratic leaders should undertake the potentially time-consuming task of forcing the bill to a vote. "

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Nearly Three-quarters of World's HIV/Aids Cases are in Africa

Ofeibea Quist-Arcton/allAfrica.com A cemetery in Lusaka, Zambia, is running out of graves because so many are dying of Aids. Some 40 million adults and children worldwide are living with HIV/Aids and 28.1m of them are in Africa. HIV/Aids is the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa. There were 3.4m new HIV infections in the region during 2001 and 2.3m Africans died of Aids in that period.