Billy Timmins
Question:64 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the priorities which were set by his Department to mark World AIDS Day and the issue of AIDS in developing countries in particular. [26491/02]
Vol. 559 No. 5
64 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the priorities which were set by his Department to mark World AIDS Day and the issue of AIDS in developing countries in particular. [26491/02]
I refer the Deputy to the response that the Minister of State, Deputy Kitt, delivered to a recent question on the issue of HIV-AIDS by Deputy Broughan on 13 November 2002. In the past decade, the AIDS crisis has emerged as perhaps the greatest development challenge. A UNAIDS report published recently detailed the facts about the global AIDS crisis. It stated that 42 million people are currently affected by HIV-AIDS and 22 million have died so far. The report confirmed that the worst-hit region is southern Africa, where the disease is magnifying the effects of famine and threatening the lives of 15 million.
In the past three years, Ireland Aid has increased by tenfold the volume of funds committed to tackling the HIV-AIDS crisis. In 2002, approximately €45 million will have been spent on HIV-AIDS programmes by Ireland Aid. In January 2000, Ireland Aid published a strategy on HIV-AIDS which set out the framework for our HIV-AIDS programme. We were one of the first donors to have published a strategy of this kind. The fight against HIV-AIDS has now been fully integrated into our development programme activities. This strategy was supplemented by the launch by the Minister of State in October this year of a further publication on HIV-AIDS entitled "Experiences and Lessons of Best Practice in Addressing HIV-AIDS".
In June 2001, the Taoiseach headed Ireland's delegation to the UN General Assembly special session on HIV-AIDS. He was the only European Head of Government to attend the special session. In his address, he announced that Ireland Aid would spend an additional $30 million annually on HIV-AIDS programmes in developing countries. This special session adopted the Declaration of Commitments on HIV-AIDS, which governs the international response to the HIV-AIDS crisis. It serves as an internationally agreed framework which will hold political leaders accountable for their actions in attempting to curb the spread of this global epidemic.