Americans do not know about the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) because U.S. politicians do not play the role they should be playing, U.S. economist and UN adviser Jeffrey Sachs told reporters during a recent teleconference. 'There is a lot more interest in these issues than our politicians recognize,' said Sachs, referring to the 15-billion U. S. dollar plan former U.S. President George W. Bush launched in 2003 to expand prevention, treatment and support programs of AIDS when the public response was very positive. A 0.7-percent portion of the U.S. gross national income (GNP) is destined for development aid, but the country ranks amongst the lowest in terms of meeting the stated target, known as the official development assistance. As a comparison: 5 percent of the U.S. gross national income is spend on the military. 'It is a shocking, a shocking fact that many Americans don't believe and don't accept. We have the balance dangerously wrong,' said Sachs. 'Americans sometimes ask: we are so generous privately, doesn't that make up the difference? But it does not, even adding the public and the private assistance we still rank far below most of the other countries,' he said, noting that 'our politics are really very different because we go months, even years in a time without even hearing anything about this.' As a comparison: in the United Kingdom, all major candidates in the run-up to the general election made clear that they support the MDGs, that the committed 0.7 percent of GNP global target on development percentage is honored and that the country has an all party consensus on these major points. Taking the current global financial situation into consideration, 'it is still possible to honor our commitments,' Sachs added. 