WRITTEN QUESTION E-0317/00

by Anna Karamanou (PSE) and Minerva Malliori (PSE) to the Commission

(11 February 2000)

Subject: Effective measures to combat AIDS

Some 95 % of persons infected with AIDS live in the developing countries of Africa and Asia, the disease is responsible for one in five deaths in Africa and average life expectancy has dramatically fallen owing to the huge scale of the epidemic and the inability of sufferers to meet the high financial cost of drugs to combat the disease. In response to this situation, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of the WHO, has launched an appeal to all the industrialised countries in which she stresses that, while the northern hemisphere has a near monopoly of anti-AIDS drugs the disease is predominantly found in the southern hemisphere, and calls for an end to the inequality in the prevention and treatment of AIDS.

Given the recent aid granted by the USA and Canada ($ 150 m. and 50 m., respectively), will the Commission say by what means and what special programmes the European Union intends to help the developing countries as regards both AIDS prevention and treatment, so that those suffering from the disease have access to drugs treatment, thereby bringing about a dramatic decline in the number of AIDS deaths, as has occurred in the industrialised countries?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(30 March 2000)

The Commission is perfectly aware of the increasing difficulties faced by the developing countries in coping with the human immunodefficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV-AIDS) epidemic. In recent years, developments in treatment have meant that patient care and survival in the industrialised countries have improved considerably, but this progress remains inaccessible to the poorest countries.

The Commission Communication to the Council and the European Parliament(1) For increased solidarity to confront AIDS in developing countries confirms that the Commission is willing to increase cooperation with the international community and stresses that the effort must include the whole range of public and private institutional actors. The Commission is working closely with the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) as well as the pharmaceutical industry to develop mechanisms allowing easier access to patient care and new forms of financial solidarity.

The Commission is also aware that patient care can only be viable if the healthcare systems are improved at the same time and international medical aid must be targeted and extremely well structured to achieve the long-term aim of reducing morbidity and mortality connected with HIV-AIDS. It is important to remember that the new anti-retroviral treatments involve considerable constraints for the patient and perfectly trained staff and rigorous follow-up techniques are needed. If there is not strict compliance with treatment protocols, the whole effectiveness of the treatment will be jeopardised in the long-term and on a large scale.

This is why the Commission's strategy in this field involves both specific targeted actions through the special HIV-AIDS budget heading and more general aid programmes to improve the healthcare systems.

Over the last ten years the Commission has committed more than EUR 200 million to this special budget to support national and regional programmes in countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America worst affected by the epidemic. The programmes prioritise preventive action but also support the improvement in care, especially for opportunist infections which can be fairly simply and efficiently treated.

The specific measures are supplemented by broader cooperation programmes to tackle the improvement of healthcare systems, as this is the only way to ensure sustainability.

EUR 23 million is available under the special budget heading for 2000 to develop innovative research and measures contributing to more effective and sustainable policies in this field. Priority will be given to

preventing transmission from mother to child, developing the system of high-quality sustainable patient care and studying the economic mechanisms of public healthcare influencing the capacity to develop adequate vaccines and raise awareness among private and public bodies of the need to develop microbiocide products accessible to all.

The Commission has just signed a financing agreement with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States for EUR 20 million taken from the resources of the 8th European Development Fund (EDF) earmarked for All ACP States. It envisages applied research, education and training projects aiming to develop institutional capacities and implement prevention strategies, especially at regional level.

(1) COM(98) 407 final.