Red Cross criticizes rich nations for AIDS fund support

The Red Cross this week criticized the world's richest nations, saying wealthy countries have not done enough to fight AIDS internationally, Agence France-Presse reports. The agency was particularly critical of inadequate funding by the United States, Japan, Australia, and European nations for the United Nations-backed Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, which is expected to fall about $500 million short of the money it needs to fully fund grants through the end of the year. "The fund is facing, once again, a fiscal emergency because donor countries have refused to pay their fair share and commit to regular, annual payments," said Massimo Barra of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. He said that without new contributions the fund would have to scale back grants already issued to more than 150 programs around the world.