Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-10-05-Speech-2-068"
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"en.19991005.4.2-068"2
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"Mr President, on behalf of my group I would like to say how pleased we are that this debate is taking place and I also welcome the Commission’s statement, which has a ring of vigour and decisiveness. As far as policy in Africa is concerned, the figures speak for themselves. AIDS threatens the long-term development of at least ten African countries. The epidemic there causes more deaths than do armed conflicts on that continent. Two million people have died of AIDS-related diseases, which is ten times the amount of people that have died due to armed conflicts. In the year 2001 there will be more than 13 million orphans in Africa on account of AIDS.
At the same time, there is no, or at least not enough, money to pay for drugs in Africa. Of course it is not just an African problem, as the Commission rightly commented. The disease knows no boundaries. That is why it is our duty to do something about it, and I fully endorse what Mrs Maij-Weggen had to say in this regard.
Accordingly, there are two issues I would briefly like to go into. Firstly there is the problem relating to compulsory licensing, which I believe will also come up for discussion at the WTO meeting soon to take place in Seattle. Compulsory licensing must not be allowed to lead to people in Africa no longer being able to afford anti-AIDS drugs. This really is a big problem over there. AIDS drugs can be produced more cheaply than is the case at present. That is an issue that needs to be addressed.
My second question relates to the financial aid delivered by the European Union. I hear reports to the effect that not all this aid gets to where it is supposed to be going and that one of the reasons for this is that this aid, or at least a part of it, is distributed via national governments. If that is the case, then it would be worth looking into whether something can be done about this.
On a final note, I want to add my voice to the appeal made by the Commission. I have in mind its appeal to religious authorities to play an active part in preventive programmes, particularly where the distribution of condoms is concerned"@en1
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