ST PETERSBURG,
Russia (Reuters) - The G8 missed an opportunity on Saturday to fight disease in the
world's poorest countries, Italian Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa said
after they failed to reach agreement on a vaccine program.
However
Padoa-Schioppa said the issue was "still open" and he hoped heads of state of the
eight economic powers would still agree on a pilot project supported by Italy to fund
research into vaccine for diseases afflicting the world's poor.
The G8 heads
of state will meet in St Petersburg in July.
"Good ideas are never dropped
abruptly, they are gradually suffocated," he quipped, but added that there was no
reason to assume that would happen with the vaccine program which had the potential
to save 7 million lives a year.
"It has a strong humanitarian component,
limited costs, a good balance between the public and private sector and it offers
huge benefits compared with cost involved," he said.
Anti-poverty group DATA,
founded by rock star Bono, agreed. "The G8's money men suffered a poverty of ambition
today," it said in a statement, adding that the industrial powers' failure to reach
a deal meant "last year's promises to Africa are already in danger of being
broken."
