G8 summit to unveil higher spending on AIDS: Germany

BERLIN (Reuters) - Members of the Group of Eight (G8) leading industrial nations will announce plans to increase the money they spend combating AIDS at an upcoming summit, the German government said on Wednesday.

"Germany, like other G8 member states, will increase the resources devoted to combating AIDS," Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm told a regular news conference.

Germany, which currently chairs the G8, hosts a summit of G8 leaders in the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm on June 6-8.

Wilhelm said details of the sums of money involved would be revealed during the summit.

Responding to a report in the Washington Post on Wednesday that U.S. President George W. Bush will call on Congress to provide $30 billion toward battling the global AIDS crisis over the first five years after he leaves office, Wilhelm said:

"That's an important and very interesting initiative."

"It's obvious that this is a very important subject -- with Africa as the priority area," he added. "The discussion is going to centre on what framework we'll use to increase our efforts as well as our financial support for combating AIDS."

According to UNAIDS, the United Nations' anti-AIDS agency, global funding for fighting the virus will rise to around $10 billion in 2007 from some $8.9 billion last year.

But UNAIDS says this still falls well short of the $18.1 billion it says are needed to fight AIDS this year. In 2008 it estimates around $22.1 billion will be needed.

According to the Development Ministry, Germany will spend around 400 million euros ($536.8 million) fighting AIDS in 2007.