Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-01-30-Speech-4-045"
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"en.20030130.2.4-045"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, first of all I would like to compliment the rapporteur, Mr Wijkman, on his outstanding report. Poverty-related diseases are a serious threat to the development of poor countries, and we have the important task of helping these countries fight these diseases. The World Fund, for example, is a very useful tool for tackling the combating of disease on a global level, and at the moment it is being suggested that the EU contribute EUR 35 million to it. There are calls to increase this amount. Despite the useful work they do, I myself do not endorse this directly. I think that it is very important to first take a look at what happens to the contribution. We must have the guarantee that the money will be spent properly and efficiently. Transparency plays a major role in this. I therefore wholeheartedly endorse the rapporteur’s proposal to include the actions financed from the World Fund in the Commission’s annual report.
I myself also believe that the pharmaceutical industry has an important role to play. Not only must they offer affordable prices, they must also be willing to share their know-how with partners in developing countries. A win-win situation. By producing products locally, they will be contributing directly to combating poverty, increasing knowledge and fighting disease more efficiently, as the products will already be with the potential customers. So there will be fewer logistical problems, and the TRIPs do not have to be an obstacle to this, given the Doha Declaration.
Finally, in order to ensure that we can combat poverty effectively, I would also argue for more attention to be paid to informing the population. It is extremely important that patients realise that once a course of treatment has begun it must be finished. How often do you hear the complaint that a patient with malaria has contracted a resistant variant because he stopped his course of treatment too soon out of ignorance. We must pay the necessary attention to this as well. Information and education must be spearheads in our development policy, also in relation to combating poverty-related diseases. The pharmaceutical industry can make a formidable contribution to this."@en1
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