U.S. fights criticism at AIDS conference

The United States on Wednesday rejected a call at the International AIDS Conference for a $1 billion contribution next year to the global fund that has become the centerpiece of U.N. efforts against the disease.

"It's not going to happen," U.S. AIDS coordinator Randall Tobias said in an interview, noting that Washington already is by far the world's largest donor to the cause.

Tobias' comments were in response to a request Tuesday by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who said he hoped the United States would give $1 billion for 2005 alone to the Global Fund, which is far short of its $3.6 billion budget.

The United States is carrying out a $15 billion, five-year Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, mainly directed toward 14 countries in Africa and the Caribbean, plus Vietnam. Critics say the United States should instead give much of that money to the Global Fund, which reaches 128 countries.

They also say the U.S. money comes with strings attached that can set back efforts to curb the spread of the HIV - which infected 5 million people last year alone - and that the U.N.-sponsored fund best suits the needs of sufferers.

The U.S. money goes to countries that support Bush's abstinence-first policy, and it currently can only buy brand-name drugs, usually American, shutting out cheaper generic versions made by developing countries.

Tobias urged detractors to stop arguing with Washington over condoms and drug patents and join its war on the pandemic, which has claimed 20 million lives and left another 38 million infected worldwide since 1986, most of them in Africa.

There has been furious criticism at the AIDS conference of U.S. policies such as its insistence on abstinence - rather than condoms - as a primary way of battling HIV; its trade policies; and its funding methods. The conference is the biggest gathering ever of AIDS scientists, activists, policy-makers and HIV-infected people.

Critics say a vow of abstinence is difficult to maintain and, when broken, can lead to unprotected sex, raising the risk of HIV infection that could effectively be blocked by a condom.

Tobias was jeered by protesters chanting, "He's lying! People dying!" when he was about to defend U.S. policies in a speech Wednesday.

One activist, Mark Milano, 48, of New York, said that when it comes to fighting AIDS, "every step of the way, the U.S. government is not doing what it should be doing."

"It's not working with other countries. It's going at it alone, like it did with Iraq," he said.

Tobias said that while the United States is not against condoms, an abstinence campaign in Uganda shows that the contraceptives are not the only solution.

"At this point, perhaps the most critical mistake we can make is to allow this pandemic to divide us," he said.