The British and US governments are to set up a Special Joint Task Force on HIV, Downing Street announced yesterday, following a roundtable meeting on HIV/AIDS hosted by Tony Blair and attended by representatives from Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia. President Bush also took part in the meeting, which was the only significant diversion from talks on the war in Iraq and international terrorism during his three and half day visit to the UK.
The Task Force will coordinate US and British efforts on the ground in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia, where the UK and US are already working together closely, with the aim of drawing in other donor countries and establishing a stronger framework for efforts in prevention, treatment, care, and support.
The structure, personnel and scope of the Task Force have still to be defined, a DFID spokesperson told aidsmap, but it is expected that the Task Force will build on collaborative efforts already underway in countries where the United States and the United Kingdom are supporting activities to combat AIDS, and is not intended to compete with the coordinating role of UNAIDS. The US administration is known to be concerned at the potential for duplication of efforts, especially in the fifteen nations identified as priorities for President Bush’s AIDS prevention, treatment and care programme announced earlier this year.
In a communiqué issued after the meeting the British government also confirmed that it shares the US commitment to a rapid increase in the availability of HIV treatment in the most affected countries, but at this stage no details are available on the practical implications of this commitment. The commitment is unlikely to signal any increase in British contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria; the possibility of an increase in support for the Fund was dismissed at Wednesday afternoon's press briefing by the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman.