Charities urge G7 to cancel poor countries' debts
Reuters, London
Aid agencies Wednesday urged major developed countries to agree to cancel poor states' debts, saying more people die every week because of poverty than perished in the Asian tsunami.The ActionAid, CAFOD and Oxfam charities made their plea ahead of a weekend meeting of policymakers from the Group of Seven countries in London. Britain, as host, has pledged to make the debt of sub-Saharan Africa a key focus of the meeting. The charities said in a joint statement that governments had proved their willingness to help other countries after the Dec. 26 Indian Ocean tidal wave disaster which killed some 300,000 people. But they must do more to alleviate poverty around the world, particularly in Africa. "Every week, poverty kills more people than died in the Asian tsunami. A child dies every three seconds from a preventable disease, and yet the world's poorest countries spend more on debt repayments ... than they do on health," the statement said.
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