
UN report: Debt crisis undermines AIDS eradication in Africa
Voice of America
Zimbabwe was a pioneer of the AIDS levy — a 3% income tax for individuals and 3% tax on profits of employers — in 1999 when it set up the National Aids Council. It's headquarters are shown here in Harare on Sept. 20, 2024. Zimbabwean parliament Speaker Jacob Mudenda addresses his colleagues on Sept. 20, 2024, at Mount Hampden, telling them that the budget of $387 million for HIV programs was no longer enough.
A new report released by the main United Nations agency for action on AIDS and HIV says growing public debt is choking sub-Saharan African countries, leaving them with little fiscal room to finance critical HIV services.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy listens during a meeting with members of the media on the outskirts of London Leaders from Britain and the European Union attend a summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss European security and Ukraine, at Lancaster House in London, Britain, March 2, 2025.

FILE - A hangar can be seen behind barbed wire fencing at Bagram Air Base after the U.S. military left the facility, in Parwan province, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, July 5, 2021. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid speaking on state-run Afghan broadcaster. (VOA screen shot) FILE - UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters fly during a military parade to mark the third anniversary of the withdrawal of U.S.-led troops from Afghanistan, in Bagram Air Base in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan, Aug. 14, 2024.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and France's President Emmanuel Macron hold a meeting during a summit at Lancaster House in central London, March 2, 2025. France's President Emmanuel Macron, Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepare to hold a plenary meeting at a summit held at Lancaster House in central London on March 2, 2025. U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Feb. 28, 2025.

Ghana's first-ever female world boxing champion, Abigail Kwartekaa Quartey, poses for a photo after a morning training session on the beach in the Jamestown district of Accra, Ghana, Jan 22, 2025. Abigail Kwartekaa Quartey, 28, shows a photo of her match against Sangeeta Birdie from Britain, which earned her the world title and made her Ghana's first-ever female world boxing champion in Jamestown, Accra, Ghana, Jan 23, 2025.