News about war, natural disasters and terrorists has been the staple this year, but even now there is some good news. US$11.7 billion has been pledged by countries from around the world to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
The funds were pledged by more than 40 donor countries, private foundations, and corporations and will be used to fight against AIDS and other deadly diseases like cancer. This is great news but I believed more can be done. Diseases like AIDS and cancers go beyond borders, they affect humans of all races and nationalities. Yet if you look at the breakdown of the donors, you will be that America pledged US$4 billion to the fund. That means one third of the pledge is by America while the rest of the world takes up the rest.
Now I applauded the Obama administration for their very impressive commitments, but what happened to the rest of the world? America is not one third of the world! Other countries should step up to help in this. I would like to know how much Singapore pledged to the fund. I mean it was just announced that Singapore has the fifteen most expensive office spaces in the world. I wondered where we ranked in the donor list.
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