Former UN AIDS envoy slams G-8 as morally bankrupt

The former UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa is accusing the G-8 of abandoning its commitments to health and social equality in Africa, suggesting its leaders are having trouble finding their moral compass. The leaders of the world's top industrialized nations have reneged on promises to have-not nations, particularly those in Africa, to help improve the health, social and equality conditions in those countries, said Canadian Stephen Lewis. Last week, at a summit in Heiligendam, Germany, the G-8 leaders announced a $60 billion commitment to fight disease in Africa, but Lewis said that funding did not come with a timeline. Lewis said the leaders only committed the funds "over the coming years." "What in the world does that mean?" Lewis asked. The G-8 countries are spending $120 billion annually to deal with conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, but they can't find half that amount to deal with HIV/AIDS, Lewis said. "What has happened to the moral anchor of this world?" he asked. Lewis also told the conference that the G-8 is deficient in dealing with gender equality, an issue he said drives pandemics in Africa. "It is the abiding nightmare of the pandemic," Lewis said. "There is terrifying specter of carnage among the women." He said the single most important struggle on the planet is the struggle for gender equality. "You cannot continue to marginalize 50 percent of the population of the planet and expect to realize modicum of justice."