Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-01-13-Speech-2-320"
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"en.20040113.14.2-320"2
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"Madam President, I would like to voice my support for the report and, at the same time, my gratitude to Mrs Sandbaek.
This report sends out alarming signals and challenges us, in particular, to combat poverty and devastating diseases such as AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis far more resolutely than before. My group does not underestimate the Commission’s efforts. However, the facts presented in the report tell their own story.
The impacts are probably most severe in Africa. As people die, whole villages die as well. As a result of poverty and disease, vast territories are virtually depopulated, even without war. Of course, the issue today is the adoption of practical measures and programmes to control these diseases. Nonetheless, the general social context cannot be ignored. People who live in poverty have no energy to fight these deadly diseases and nor do they have the money to pay for drugs. The armies of refugees, camping in open fields or in tents, are easy prey to these pandemics. When the market is dominated by the profit motive, it is difficult to supply high-quality drugs at low prices in the developing countries. However, this is exactly where politics must accept its responsibility and do more to meet it.
Regrettably, WTO conferences are aimed more at reinforcing the privileges enjoyed by major monopolies than at supplying the comprehensive and reliable services of general interest that are so urgently required. If we ignore the signals sent out by the World Social Forum now, we will hear them far beyond Mumbai. In light of this emergency, whose roots go back to the colonial era, it comes as no surprise – although it is only right and proper – that the former colonies should now demand compensation from the former colonial powers.
This, as the report says, is where the EU, the Commission and this Parliament have to redouble their efforts."@en1
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