Vol. 526 No. 6
94 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the recent EU high level round table to combat the threat posed by HIV/AIDS to the people of the developing countries; and the additional funding Ireland plans to allocate for this purpose. [27512/00]
The aim of the round table, which took place in Brussels on 28 September, was to provide an opportunity for the European Union to consult with its developing country partners and key stakeholders on the new EU policy framework for accelerated action on major communicable diseases, HIV-AIDs, Malaria and TB. This new policy framework was adopted by the Council of Development Ministers on 10 November.
At the round table, the Commission announced that it would prepare an action plan to implement the new EU policy framework. This is expected to be ready by the start of December. The action plan will be implemented jointly by the Commission services and will be based on the three key areas for intervention outlined in the new policy framework: optimising the impact of existing interventions, making key pharmaceuticals more affordable and increasing efforts in research and development especially in relation to the search for a HIV-AIDs vaccine.
Ireland has been very active in pressing for an intensification of the EU's efforts to address the crisis in developing countries caused by the HIV-AIDs pandemic. A statement by the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell was circulated to participants at the round table emphasising the fundamental importance of health sector development to the success of efforts to deal with communicable diseases. Following the round table, the Minister of State wrote to Commissioner Nielson pressing for early progress on the action plan. She also raised this matter with the commissioner when they met in Dublin on 23 November. We have also urged the commission to commit the necessary resources from the EU aid budget to ensure that the proposals for accelerated action to tackle HIV-AIDs and communicable diseases can be successfully implemented.
The Minister of State recently announced an allocation of £4 million by Ireland Aid for HIV-AIDs programmes. We have also increased our contribution to UNAIDs from £75,000 in 1999 to £250,000 in 2000. The projects to be funded include initiatives in Zimbabwe, Lesotho and for research into a new HIV-AIDs vaccine.
These allocations are based on the HIV-AIDs Strategy for Ireland Aid, launched in January, which provides a framework for intensifying Ireland Aid's response to the AIDs challenge in a coherent way across the whole aid programme. The strategy draws on a situation analysis of Ireland Aid's priority countries and best practice internationally and within Ireland Aid itself.
