MPs want clarity on Aids package

The Department for International Development's (DFID's) funding commitment to strengthen health systems was "strong on rhetoric" but weak on details of implementation, a cross-party group of MPs said.

The International Development Committee said it was unclear how the money would be spent on the ground, as the funding had not been broken down by country or sector.

The select committee - whose report was released a day before World Aids Day - said the Government's pledge would be effective in helping health services to provide the prevention, treatment and support that Aids sufferers needed.

But committee chairman Liberal Democrat Malcolm Bruce said: "It is not yet clear to us whether this £6 billion is new money or simply a redirection of existing commitments. We have asked the department for a full breakdown of where this sum will come from and how it will be spent on the ground in developing countries."

DFID launched its HIV/Aids strategy - Achieving Universal Access: The UK's Strategy For Halting And Reversing The Spread Of HIV In The Developing World - in June.

Ministers pledged £6 billion over seven years to strengthen health systems in developing countries. The strategy's overall aim is universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care by 2010.

The committee "wholeheartedly" supported the Government's level of funding and said the disease would never be halted without "well-resourced and capable" health systems.

But there were few measurable targets to assess the strategy's effectiveness, they said. No monitoring and evaluation framework had yet been provided, although DFID was expected to publish this very shortly.

The strategy also lacked details on how the UK would tackle the challenges of gender-based violence, a key factor in the disproportionate impact that HIV/Aids has on women and girls.