The U.S. Senate on Thursday backed a $500 million increase in funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, almost tripling the sum asked for by President Bush.

If approved by the House of Representatives, the increase would raise to $800 million the U.S. contribution to the fund for the 2006 fiscal year beginning in October. Bush asked Congress for $300 million.

The amendment to the Senate’s 2006 budget blueprint was adopted by voice vote.

“One of the most important things we can do is work on the pandemic that’s affecting Africa right now,” said Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, who co-sponsored the amendment with Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin.

AIDS activists, many of whom have criticized the Bush administration for not providing enough money, praised the move.

“Senators Santorum and Durbin are hall of famers in the fight against global AIDS,” Bono, the Irish rock singer who campaigns for African aid and debt relief, said in a statement.

“The Senate has raised the bar, now the rest of the world needs to match support for the Global Fund,” he said.