Bruni to G8: Don't Let Recession Kill AIDS Funding

We've made progress—now don't let economy destroy it

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 8, 2009 10:36 AM CDT

(Newser) – Carla Bruni-Sarkozy gets in the op-ed game today, urging G8 leaders who are converging on L’Aquila, Italy, to continue the commitment their predecessors made 8 years ago to fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa. The earlier initiative helped the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria save some 4 million people, the French first lady says in a piece in the Guardian. Now, leaders must not let the economic crisis dismantle the life-saving program. “We have made inspiring and dramatic progress, but this journey has just begun.”

“This revolution is beginning to transform Africa, yet much of the progress made in reducing poverty over the past decades is under threat from the effects of the global economic crisis,” writes Bruni. “Health investments reduce inequities, however, and at a time of economic hardship, they are more important than ever to preserve social stability," she notes. “Over 300,000 children—mostly in Africa—are still infected with HIV every year,” and we have the power to help them.

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French President Nicolas Sarkozy's wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is seen as Sarkozy addresses parliament members at the Versailles castle, west of Paris, Monday, June 22, 2009. (AP Photo/Eric Feferberg, Pool)

In this April 28, 2009 file photo, French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy arrives at the Parliament in Madrid during French President Nicolas Sarkozy's two-day state visit to Spain. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

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I have agreed to focus on this particular inequality by serving as a global ambassador for the prevention of HIV in women and children.
- Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

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Bruni to G8: Don't Let Recession Kill AIDS Funding