US Senate passes bill to boost global AIDS funds

The US Senate, fighting opposition from some conservative Republicans, has voted to spend $US48 billion to fight AIDS worldwide over the next five years.

By a vote of 80 to 16, the Senate passed the legislation and ended weeks of delays orchestrated by some Republicans who thought the measure spent too much and objected to other provisions.

"In 2003 President Bush and this Congress launched the largest public health program in the history of the world," said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, a Delaware Democrat, who pushed the legislation.

"It is saving lives, millions of them."

The House of Representatives passed its version of the bill on April 2.

The House and Senate will have to work out their differences to craft a final version.