It wont be long now before Gordon Brown steps into Tony Blair’s shoes. As such, he’s already taking steps to develop his international policy. Putting Africa, especially Sub-Saharan Africa in the spotlight is a nice start. Mr. Brown pens a column in The Observer on precisely this matter.
But with only 440,000 people with HIV receiving treatment in 2004 – just 250,000 in sub-Saharan Africa – much more finance will be needed to meet the World Health Organisation target of three million people on anti-retroviral therapy. Hilary Benn has already promised that Britain will increase resources to develop healthcare systems with well-trained staff and equipment and fund stronger anti-poverty strategies.
Globally, tackling the world’s deadliest diseases and halving world poverty will require the overall doubling of aid recommended by the Commission for Africa. Which is why additional resources need to be agreed at Gleneagles and why it is critical that all wealthy countries, including the richer oil-producing states, join in.