Evian, Jun 02: French President Jacques Chirac today announced that Paris would triple its contribution to the global fund for AIDS from 50 million euros to 150 million euros (177 million dollars) a year. "The United States took a decision that I would not hesitate to call historic," Chirac told a press conference on the opening day of the Group of Eight summit, referring to a US initiative that will grant 15 billion dollars over five years to the fight against AIDS.
Of that money, five billion dollars will be donated to the global fund. Chirac said US President George W Bush was "totally right" in calling on other nations to back the United States with their own contributions, adding that he thought Europe would "accept the challenge". The French leader noted that the European Union would take a definitive decision on the issue at the bloc's summit later this month in Greece.

A group founded by Irish singers Bono and Bob Geldof to support the fight against AIDS in Africa hailed the French commitment.

"That's good news for Africa and the developing world," a spokesman for the group, debt AIDS trade Africa (data), said in a statement.

Bureau Report