Madam, - The $60 billion in aid money pledged by the G8 leaders in Heiligendamm to fight Aids, malaria and tuberculosis in Africa has to be seen in light of the estimated $148 billion lost to that continent each year through corruption.
Indeed, the recently retired Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has claimed that 25 per cent of Africa's combined income is lost to graft - that's $15 billion of the G8 cash gone before one child gets treatment.
Wouldn't it make sense to tackle that issue first, before throwing more money into the sizeable coffers of corrupt governments that have more interest in self-aggrandisement than the welfare of their peoples? - Yours, etc,
JOHN O'SHEA, Goal, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
Madam, - Tony Allwright (June 11th) castigates people of a leftward leaning for their alleged tolerance of tyrannical regimes in the developing world. The fact is that the majority of these regimes are propped up by the West to maintain the continued exploitation of their countries' natural resources. This exploitation mostly is carried out through dubious contracts between the regimes and unscrupulous multinationals, facilitated by Western banks and supported indirectly by our so-called democratic Western governments.
An obvious example is Nigeria, which under the previous military dictatorships negotiated the exploitation of its oil wealth by Shell and others. The result is that in what should be one of the most prosperous of countries there is abject poverty and the country is constantly teetering on the brink of civil war. - Yours, etc,
BARRY WALSH, Church Road, Blackrock, Cork.