AIDS could lead to political instability in the Caribbean

Wednesday, November 5, 2003

OSLO, Norway (AFP): Former US president Bill Clinton said Tuesday that the spread of AIDS could lead to "massive political instability".

"We could lose democracies in the Caribbean," he added.

Clinton's Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative, which is working to combat AIDS in the Caribbean, announced two weeks ago that it had reached a deal with four generic-drug companies to slash the price of AIDS drugs in parts of the developing world.

The fight against AIDS is not just a humanitarian issue, it is also a question of international security in the fight against terrorism, said Mr Clinton.

"It seems to me that if you believe in democracy, if you believe in freedom, if you want more partners and fewer terrorists, the rest of us have to do something about this AIDS problem," Clinton told reporters during a visit to Oslo.

Asked whether AIDS presented a more serious threat than terrorism, Clinton replied: "We can't think about one to the exclusion of the other.

"We should continue to fight terror but we have to realize that this AIDS issue is also a security issue," he said after talks with Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik.

In another story, the U.S. Senate last week voted 89-1 to increase funding for international AIDS relief. This makes $2.4 billion available for the fight against HIV/AIDS. The Senate's bill is nearly $300 million more than the Bush administration request and will be available next year, particularly in Africa and the Caribbean.

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