Clinton and Gates Call for More Cost-Effective AIDS Fight

Bill Clinton and Bill Gates on Monday urged scientists, activists, and health workers to find cost savings in delivering AIDS prevention and treatment services in hard-hit and high-risk countries, reports Reuters.

Speaking at an international AIDS conference in Vienna, the former president and the co-chairman of the world’s largest philanthropy said donors cannot be expected to give more in economic hard times unless the money is carefully spent.

“We can’t keep spending AIDS resources in exactly the same way we do today,” said Mr. Gates, whose Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation spends a large chunk of its $34-billion combating the disease. Those advocating for greater AIDS spending, he said, “need to make sure we’re getting the most benefit from each dollar of AIDS funding and every ounce of effort.”