President George W. Bush on Thursday scolded members of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized countries for not following through on pledges to help fund Africa's battle against HIV/AIDS. “At the last G8, our partners stood up and made strong commitments to help Africa deal with malaria and HIV/AIDS. They have yet to make good on their commitments,” said Bush, who will attend the July G8 summit in Japan. “I'll remind them, it's one thing to make a promise, it's another thing to write the check. The American government expects our partners to live up to their obligations,” Bush said in a speech in Washington. The G8—the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, and Canada—ended its June 2007 summit by pledging $60 billion to fight AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis in Africa. Of that, $30 billion has been pledged by the United States.
