HEILIGENDAMM, June 8 (RIA Novosti) - Leaders of the Group of Eight nations formally agreed on the final day of their summit Friday to allocate another $60 billion to fight AIDS, malaria, and TB in Africa.

In the Growth and Responsibility in Africa declaration, the leaders also invited other donors to join the initiative, proposed by the United States, which said it would provide $30 billion of the total.

"We will continue our efforts towards these [fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis on a sustainable basis] goals to provide at least a projected $60 billion over the coming years, and invite other donors to contribute as well," the declaration said.

The G8 has long declared combating infectious diseases to be a global target and has provided significant material support to the campaign. The Global Health Fund can be traced back to an initiative taken by the G8 in Okinawa in 2000. To date, the G8 has made over $1.4 billion available for combating these diseases, according to its web site.

The G8 members are Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, the United States, Canada, and Russia (since 1998).

Russia initially said it was caught by surprise by the new U.S. proposal announced by President George W. Bush on the eve of the current summit in Germany, but later reaffirmed its support for the initiative.

"A substantial part of these [new] funds will be used to combat AIDS, TB, malaria, and to strengthen the health systems [in African countries], a source in the Russian delegation at the summit said.

About 63% of all people in the world infected with HIV live in Africa. Every year, malaria kills nearly one million people globally. Around 90% of these deaths occur in Africa, mostly in young children. Additionally, tuberculosis kills 5,000 people every day, mostly young adults in their most productive years.