BANGKOK, July 15 (AFP) - Nelson Mandela on Thursday sought to rally the world behind the fight against AIDS after a global conference marked by rows over the best way to fight the pandemic.
He urged governments and private business to pour money into the world's warchest against AIDS after widespread criticism of the major world players' failures to come up with the billions needed to counter the growing crisis.
"In a world that is divided along many lines, we now have a unique opportunity to bring us all together around a common challenge," said Mandela in a speech at the 15th International AIDS Conference here.
He said the world's greatest health crisis demanded strong leadership, that countries prepare properly to fight it and for donors to "substantially increase" their contributions to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
"Our inability to act decisively on this challenge is a direct reflection of our disregard for our common humanity," he said.
Mandela received rapturous applause as he delivered his speech after a special screening of a film Thursday based on the charity concert held in Cape Town in December to raise money to take on AIDS.
The concert was part of Mandela's 46664 campaign -- named after his prison number while he was detained by the former apartheid regime -- which calls on all governments to declare a global AIDS emergency.
His demands were answered by the European Commission and the foundation of Microsoft founder Bill Gates which both pledged an additional 50 million dollars to the global fund.
Mandela, who is 86 on Sunday, earlier at the forum called for more money to counter tuberculosis. The condition often accelerates the advance of HIV to full-blown AIDS.
Looking frail but speaking confidently, he said: "Today we are calling the world to recognise that we can't fight AIDS unless we take on TB as well."
Mandela announced this year that he was scaling down his commitments, but the former South African president's appearance at the conference was never in doubt.
His appearance was the undoubted highlight of a conference that has been overshadowed by disagreements over the US role in fighting the pandemic.
The United States has called for unity in the fight against AIDS after being the target of sustained complaints at the world forum over its funding commitments, its unilateral stance in tackling the crisis and over cheap copycat drugs.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has criticised the US over the amount it was contributing to the Global Fund to tackle the AIDS crisis.
French President Jacques Chirac and the European Union have also criticised the US' role in trade deals that make it harder for poor countries to get cheap anti-HIV drugs.
The United States is the world's largest contributor to the fight, with President George W. Bush pledging 15 billion dollars over five years, although so far only 350 million has been allocated.
Japan contributed just 130 million dollars last year to the AIDS fight, amid calls for the international community to demand more from the world's second largest economy.
The US AIDS czar Randall Tobias Wednesday dismissed protests targeting his country and defended its role, including its controversial decision to have sexual abstinence as a key policy plank.
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry also Wednesday pledged to double US funding for the global fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
"We must be committed to bringing the full weight of American leadership to bear against Africa's deadliest diseases, including AIDS. As president, I will double US contributions to the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria," he said.
Sub-Saharan Africa has suffered from the bulk of the 20 million dead so far from the disease, with 38 million more living with HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS.
Meanwhile, health experts and activists said the world's largest HIV vaccine trial in Thailand had been an expensive flop and demanded that it be scrapped.
Already a year behind schedule and with fewer than half the volunteers needed, influential scientists, activists and non-governmental organisations have called for the part US-funded project to be abandoned because the vaccine will not work.