Written Answers. - HIV Infection.
John Gormley
Question:
236
Mr. Gormley
asked the
Minister for Foreign Affairs
his views on whether poverty is a major contributing factor to the increase of HIV-AIDS in developing countries; and if, during Ireland's EU Presidency, he will support debt relief and favourable trade arrangements for the countries worst affected by HIV-AIDS.
[30988/03]
Recent statistics published by UNAIDS indicated that in 2003 over 40 million people were living with the HIV-AIDS virus. Sub-Saharan Africa, by far the worst affected region, is now home to over 26.6 million people living with HIV-AIDS. Approximately 3.2 million new infections occurred there in 2003, while the epidemic claimed the lives of an estimated 2.3 million Africans in the past year.
HIV-AIDS has devastating effects on individuals, families and communities. It is also having profound effects on the social and economic development of the countries most affected by the epidemic. In many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, life expectancy rates are declining sharply, food production is falling as agricultural workers fall ill, children orphaned by HIV-AIDS leave school and suffer stigma and discrimination, and administrative capacity in Governments and the private sector is being undermined due to the loss through HIV-AIDS of experienced personnel.
In these situations, the HIV-AIDS epidemic is the biggest single obstacle to reducing poverty and attaining the development goals agreed by the international community at the United Nations millennium summit.
Poverty, underdevelopment and illiteracy increase the vulnerability of people to HIV infection, and AIDS in turn exacerbates poverty. Although both rich and poor can be infected, the poor have fewer resources to cope with long-term illness. When they fall ill, they lose the capacity to generate income and incur additional medical costs. This results in a further deepening of their poverty.
In the absence of well resourced health systems, the burden of care is falling more and more on communities to look after the sick, as well as the care of children who are being left behind as orphans. Women are particularly vulnerable and also carry the additional burden of having to be carers to those affected by AIDS.
HIV-AIDS is a key priority for the Government's programme of official development assistance – Development Co-operation Ireland. Ireland was one of the first donors to develop a HIV-AIDS strategy. Since 2001, Ireland's financial allocations to the fight against AIDS have increased tenfold with a budget allocation of €40 million in 2003. These resources are directed at HIV-AIDS activities at the global, regional, national and community levels and are implemented through international and regional organisations and in our programme countries. The latter include six highly affected countries in southern and eastern Africa.
The Government's strategy on debt, which I launched in June 2002, explicitly calls for a revision of the heavily indebted poor countries' initiative, the World Bank-IMF managed international response to the debt crisis. Our strategy criticised the fact that HIPC does not take into account the impact of the HIV-AIDS epidemic on a country's economy and its capacity to repay debt. We have actively campaigned for changes to the HIPC debt sustainability criteria to take account of HIV-AIDS, thereby providing a higher level of debt relief, or debt cancellation, for countries with high HIV-AIDS prevalence rates.
I will continue to promote this policy, including during our forthcoming EU Presidency. We are in discussions with the European Commission about a study on debt sustainability currently being undertaken by the Commission which we hope will be published during our Presidency. This would provide a useful opportunity for discussion among our EU partners on the related issues of HIV-AIDS and debt relief.
Many of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa most affected by HIV-AIDS are also marginalised from the global economy and their share of international trade is falling. The EU, through its Everything But Arms trade initiative, has completely opened the EU market quota and duty free to all exports from these least developed countries with transition periods for rice, sugar and bananas. At the WTO and in the UN, the EU has called on other major trading blocs to follow the EU's example and completely open their economies to goods from these countries. I will continue to promote this policy during our forthcoming EU Presidency, particularly at the 11th UN Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD, which will take place in Brazil in June 2004. Ireland will speak for the EU at this conference which will provide an important opportunity for the EU to engage in dialogue with developing countries on the key issues on the international trade and development agenda.
Question No. 237 answered with Question No. 233.
