Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-11-30-Speech-4-022"
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"en.20061130.4.4-022"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you for a debate which has shed light on this serious, worldwide problem from a number of perspectives. I think I can say that no objections have emerged in the debate that would undermine the broad strategic value of this document, in terms of either the ideas in the statement or the definition of the areas for action and the goals we need to achieve.
I should like to emphasise the fundamental idea that the only way to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic is with the kind of coordinated, holistic approach that is currently deployed in the fight against poverty, in other words, preventative mechanisms that incorporate cultural norms, education, common sense, screening and care for the sick, including appropriate treatment. I think it is safe to say that the current results cannot be regarded as a success. Neither can we view them as empty words, since the progress that has been made is not inconsiderable. As for the fund, there has been a significant amount of financing. The EU is also providing significant resources to finance a range of projects in all countries and there have been some successes. The TRIPS agreement has been mentioned. As of this year, medicines can be produced more cheaply. I mentioned the fact that there have been times when prices have fallen by 98%. This is indeed noteworthy progress, but in no way could it be called a success. There is no doubt that we need to redouble our efforts.
I should now like to turn to two specific issues, which I feel require a particular response. It was mentioned – though I am not sure I have understood correctly – that in the new Member States there are no suitable centres monitoring this epidemic. This observation is untrue; these centres are everywhere. If we compared their quality of course, we might find that some are better than others. Under the European Treaty there are not many possibilities for direct control, but the idea that these centres do not exist has no basis in reality.
A further problem that was mentioned is the financing of the Fund against AIDS. The Commission has responded to the fact that the Member States are not contributing anything in 2007 by restructuring the resources. I think that one could debate whether this restructuring process has been carried out in the best possible manner, and whether different approaches might be considered, but I also think that the idea of restructuring was in essence a good one, because AIDS is a problem of massive proportions.
In spite of this I believe that if Member States have undertaken to make certain contributions, which would not be significant amounts in relation to their GDP, they should fulfil that commitment. The overall amount of money is very significant, but in relation to GDP it is an amount that can be released in the context of national budgets. It is up to us to channel our efforts into reversing this unacceptable situation, because failure to do so would be unjustifiable and indefensible. I should also like to emphasise the importance of equal opportunities, which will undoubtedly make a significant contribution to overcoming this phenomenon and improving the situation.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is a strange quirk of human nature that we push some things into the background and bring others to the foreground. Take avian flu, for example, and the attention devoted to it. I do not wish, in any way, to underplay that tragedy, but HIV/AIDS is obviously a vastly more significant problem and yet we are unfortunately not devoting the same level of attention to it.
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you for this debate, which I feel has enabled us to advance further down this path. We must of course be aware that however much we channel all our efforts into resolving the problem, it is a worldwide problem and the chances of our making progress are thus limited. However, as the debate has clearly demonstrated, we must do all that we can to make use of those chances."@en1
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