US to triple its Aids spending

The US House of Representatives has approved to triple its spending on fighting Aids, malaria and tuberculosis in Africa and other areas suffering with the disease.

It will increase the humanitarian spending to $10 (£5 million) billion a year with $41 billion of the $50 billion over five years devoted to the fight against Aids.

Nancy Pelosi, house speaker and Democrat representative for California said: "There is a moral imperative to combat this epidemic."

George Bush originally launched the programme in 2003 which provides support and drugs in 14 countries, 12 in Africa plus Vietnam, Guyana and Haiti. Some 14 Caribbean countries and three more African countries will be added under the new bill.

During the first five years of the initiative $16.5 billion was spent on fighting the disease.

The White House has said the programme supports anti-retroviral treatment for over one million people, preventing seven million new infections and providing care for ten million people in affected regions.

According to the United Nations, 33 million people are living with HIV and Aids worldwide.