Gay Mitchell
Question:55 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the steps he has taken to combat the crisis in Africa and Asia from the AIDS pandemic. [11480/01]
Written Answers - AIDS Pandemic.
HIV-AIDS is having a major negative impact in the poorest countries of the world and is contributing to an increase in poverty and a decline in development indicators in these situations. At the end of last year, over 36 million people were believed to have been infected with HIV-AIDS. It is estimated that over 22 million people have died of the disease to date. HIV infection is concentrated in countries that can least afford the sickness, death and loss of productivity it brings.
The majority of those infected with HIV virus – 95% of the global total – live in the developing world in sub-Saharan Africa and the developing countries of Asia. In these situations HIV-AIDS has wiped out decades of steady improvement in life expectancy.
Sub-Saharan Africa continues to bear the brunt of HIV and AIDS – we now know that almost 25 million Africans are living with this disease. On that continent, HIV-AIDS is now the major cause of premature death among young adults. It is responsible for the deaths of seven out of 10 people who die in this age group. It is expected that the number of people who become infected in this age group will continue to increase.
This has hugely important economic and social implications for these countries as it is this important population sub-group who contribute to the economic development of a society and who are responsible for the upbringing and welfare of young families. In these situations HIV serves to further contribute to high levels of poverty.
HIV-AIDS is a major public health and development challenge in all countries in Africa where the Irish Government is providing financial support for development programmes, that is, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The extent of the problem and the way this disease is undermining development progress, particularly in countries benefiting from Ireland Aid support, requires a response that is urgent, resourced, focused and sustained.
The need to support HIV-AIDS interventions has been well recognised by Ireland Aid. In January 2000, the Minister of State launched a new HIV-AIDS strategy for the Ireland Aid programme. Clearly, the availability of additional resources coupled with the publication of this strategy will allow Ireland Aid to continue to respond in a substantive and coherent manner to what is one of the greatest development challenges of our time.
I am happy to convey to the Deputy that over the last year there has been much progress in ensuring that the Irish Government is responding to the global HIV-AIDS pandemic.
Internationally, the Taoiseach has pressed for higher priority for the problem of HIV-AIDS in developing countries. He has raised the issue in his address to the United Nations millennium summit in September. He spoke also of the problem in the context of the EU-African Heads of State meeting in Cairo earlier in the year. Following his visit to Lesotho and South Africa last January, he wrote to the President of the European Commission to request that HIV-AIDS be afforded far greater priority in the development aid programme of the European Union.
My colleague, Deputy O'Donnell has also lobbied tirelessly on this issue. She raised the issue in her discussions with the development council of the European Community. In the course of discussions with Mr. Nielson the EC Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, she conveyed our concern that the European Community should be demonstrating greater global leadership in the fight against this disease. Partly in response to these pressures, the European Union has recently adopted a strategy for ‘accelerated action against HIV-AIDS and other communicable diseases'.
In the case of Ireland Aid, international advocacy has been complemented by the allocation of increased financial resources for HIV-AIDS activities. Over the last year, substantial additional grant allocations were made to UNAIDS, the World Health Organisation, and the International Aids Vaccine Initiative. Several other such programmes are currently under consideration. In addition, new resources were made available for HIV-AIDS programmes in the priority countries for Ireland Aid. These are being implemented by both Government and NGOs.
In the last year also, focal HIV-AIDS staff have been appointed in each priority country and there is now a requirement that a specific budgetary allocation be made for HIV-AIDS activities in each country programme. I would like to emphasise that these efforts are additional Ireland Aid support for the development and improvement of health services in all of our priority countries. Last year alone, over £11 million pounds were allocated for health service improvements in these situations.
In a wider international context, the special UN session on AIDS next month will serve to galvanise international efforts to respond to the AIDS pandemic. The Taoiseach will lead the Irish delegation to this United Nations special session on HIV-AIDS. His presence at this meeting, together with that of my colleague Deputy O'Donnell signifies in a very tangible way the commitment of this Government to support international efforts to prevent and control this global disease.