Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-10-05-Speech-2-072"
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"en.19991005.4.2-072"2
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"Mr President, it is now over fifteen years since the disease we all now know as AIDS came into the public domain. Though the number of people suffering from HIV has stabilised in recent years in Europe, the problem of AIDS is still a very real one particularly in the more deprived and disadvantaged urban areas and of course, within the African continent.
A recent study carried out by an organisation in my constituency called Cáirde points to the fact that 80% of people who contract HIV in Ireland are in receipt of welfare payments. Social exclusion and inadequate income, and living in a disadvantaged or deprived area, are all factors explaining why HIV as a disease mainly affects the more deprived communities in urban Ireland. There is no room for complacency when it comes to the issue of combating HIV and AIDS. Again according to the report of Cáirde, in Ireland almost 3 000 people are HIV positive, and a further 3 000 people are affected when one considers the family members and children of those who are HIV-positive. Medical treatments are certainly improving; however, they are not inexpensive and one year’s treatment for HIV illnesses costs an average of between IEP 12 000 – 14 000. Public information campaigns must be supported both within Ireland and the European Union, because prevention is the best cure in such matters. While medical treatments are improving, and while standards of care, standards of treatment and the cost of such care are paramount in our concerns, if one can prevent transmission of such diseases, then we may go a long way to reducing the number of those affected.
I believe that the European Commission, the European Parliament and the national member governments should redouble their efforts to publicise the public health information campaign; this should be done either via the respective Departments of Health or through voluntary groups who play such an important role in helping those who are affected by such diseases.
As a member of the Development and Cooperation Committee of the European Parliament, I recognise that AIDS is rampant, particularly on the continent of Africa. Health and education programmes must be targeted at the African continent where the AIDS plague is out of control."@en1
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