BBC News
with Sue Montgomery
国际捐款43亿美元 助贫童接种疫苗
International donors have promised $4.3bn for children's vaccination programmes in the developing world, which will target pneumonia and diarrhoea. The money pledged at a conference in London comes from governments and private donors, among them the computer billionaire Bill Gates. He said the consequences would be
far-reaching
.
"There are so many ways to look at the impact: children to get the vaccines, the children who won't be sick and will develop their full potential. I like to think of it in terms of equity that this is the first time that we can say that poor children will not be refused the vaccines that the children in the rich countries get because there's not enough money."
Some aid organisations say much of the money will go to big Western drug companies, who charge more for their vaccines than producers in developing countries, but one of the companies told the BBC it wasn't
making a profit
.
厄立特里亚火山喷发 希拉里非洲之行被迫缩短行程
The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged African leaders to promote democratic reforms, otherwise, she warned, they could face the kind of popular revolts taking place in the Arab world. Speaking to the African Union in Ethiopia, she encouraged African countries to abandon support for Colonel Gaddafi, despite his financial support, and to develop ties with Libya's rebels.