WASHINGTON Scattered successes fighting diseases in poor countries prove that massive epidemics can be brought under control if public and private groups commit billions of dollars and political will to fight them, a UN report released on Tuesday said.

Representatives of five UN agencies and the World Bank said they were optimistic that the number of cases of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases now killing millions of people and threatening economies could be substantially reduced.

The challenge is securing commitments from governments in developed and developing countries, the drug industry and private companies and groups to pay for and implement programs to provide medicines, care and education, they said.

David Heymann of the World Health Organization estimated that spending $5 billion a year for the next 10 to 15 years could cut in half the number deaths from AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and several childhood diseases and conditions that threaten pregnant women in the developing world.

Programs can be as simple as providing medicines, education or other products, care and services, Heymann said.

"We have solid evidence these tools are effective, and they have had a great impact in reducing deaths where used effectively," Heymann told reporters at a news conference.

The groups said they hoped the report would spur action by U.S. President-Elect George W. Bush and the new, closely divided Congress beyond the $1.4 billion the United States devoted to global health programs last year.

The report highlighted countries such as Senegal, Uganda and Thailand, which have curbed HIV infection rates through counseling and testing and promoting education about safe sex and needle use.

Changes Bring Success

In Thailand, for example, HIV infection rates among 21-year-old military enrollees fell to 1.5 percent in 1997 from 4 percent in 1993.

And in Vietnam, a government program that supplies free insecticide-treated bed nets and anti-malaria drugs has cut deaths from that disease by 97 percent over five years, the report said.

"Changes can be made. Even among the poorest countries there are successes to be seen," said Chris Lovelace of the World Bank.

The UN agencies and World Bank were joined by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, two health lobbying groups and the Council on Foreign Relations, which views health crises as a threat to the world's security.

While some Republicans have questioned whether health epidemics should be viewed as a national security threat, both Republicans and Democrats have backed worldwide programs such as funding to fight AIDS, Lovelace said.

"There is good evidence of the potential for bipartisan support," he said.

(Reuter)