Australia will provide 5 million dollars (3.6 million US dollars) to help Pacific island nations fight against AIDS.

The funding will be provided for a Pacific HIV/AIDS Grant Scheme to assist the nations develop and implement their own specific HIV/AIDS prevention and information campaigns, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer announced on Wednesday.

The scheme is part of Australia's broader regional HIV/AIDS program, designed to reduce the spread of the disease and mitigate the effects on people living with HIV/AIDS.

There were 1 million new infections last year in the Asia-Pacific, adding the number of people living with HIV/AIDS to 7.4 million in the region now.

"That is why Australia is intensifying efforts to tackle the looming HIV/AIDS crisis in our region by more than doubling our funding -- to 600 million dollars (430 million US dollars) by 2010-- to combat the virus and prevent an African-style tragedy," Downer said in a statement.

Pacific countries must not underestimate the severity of the threat posed by HIV/AIDS because the disease is one of the greatest threats to the economic and social development, stability,and security of developing countries, said Downer.

Australia's Special Representative on HIV/AIDS, Annmaree O' Keeffe, is in Fiji Wednesday to launch the scheme, available to Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, Kiribati, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Marshall Islands, Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, Federated States ofMicronesia, Palau and Nauru, said the statement.

Source: Xinhua