Denis Naughten
Question:68 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the steps he is taking to promote access to medicine in the third world; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39320/06]
View answerThursday, 23 November 2006
Questions (102)
Written answers
Improving access to medicine is one of the critical challenges to improving health in the developing world. Many poor people do not have access to essential medicines due to a range of factors, including lack of drugs at health facilities, lack of trained staff to provide treatment and the high cost of medicine to poor people. Lack of access to medicine causes the deaths of many people each year in developing countries, particularly from HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and infectious diseases in children. Access to medicine needs to be improved along with complementary measures for prevention and care.
The Government's commitment to health and tackling HIV/AIDS and communicable diseases is set out in the White Paper on Irish Aid. We are committed to developing programmes that address the key causes of illness and poor health among the poorest and most vulnerable people and to strengthening health systems in the poorest countries. Providing access to essential medicines is a key part of this response. The area of greatest need for medicine is for treatment of communicable diseases and the Government has committed €100 million annually to tackling HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases.
In Irish Aid priority countries, the approach taken is to strengthen health systems so that everyone can have access to essential services, including treatment of diseases. Measures supported by Irish Aid funding include the development of better drug purchase and supply systems, and increased availability of skilled health workers to treat sick people.
A specific objective of the Government's partnership with the Clinton Foundation is to improve access to treatment for HIV/AIDS. The Government has committed €70 million from 2006-2010 to improving HIV services. Irish Aid is working with the Governments in Mozambique and Lesotho to make anti-retroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS available to all who need it. Success has been demonstrated in Mozambique where the Government of Mozambique has successfully introduced HIV treatment and at the end of June, over 27,000 people were on treatment.
One of the challenges in access to medicine is that drugs widely used in developing countries have become less effective. TB causes two million deaths a year, mainly in poor countries, yet there has been no major new TB drug developed for over 30 years. In 2006, the Government made a substantial investment in research and development for new drugs for TB and malaria. Irish Aid committed €9 million over three years both to the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development and the Medicine for Malaria Venture. These organisations offer the prospect of creating access to new and more effective drugs to developing counties within the next few years.
As outlined in the White Paper on Irish Aid, the issue of health remains a priority for our aid programme.
Question No. 69 answered with QuestionNo. 25.