Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-04-24-Speech-2-071"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20070424.5.2-071"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, may I start by congratulating the rapporteur on the work that he has done on this extremely important report.
Can I first say that of course, AIDS and HIV are themselves not prejudiced. They affect anyone who actually becomes vulnerable either by the use of badly treated blood which is often contaminated and passed on, unsafe sex and the bad use of needles to list just some examples.
But what we have to deal with is how to prevent the transmission. It seems to me that highest on the agenda is the whole issue of information and education. We have to inform people about how they can protect themselves. We have to inform people about their rights and about access to medicines. At the same time we have to create a whole process for awareness-raising amongst communities and individuals who feel that they themselves are not under threat or will not be affected by AIDS and HIV.
When we look in particular at Africa, where millions and millions of lives are being ravaged, and when we look across Europe, where more and more young people are becoming infected with the HIV virus, what we have to look at is not only the accessibility of treatment, but also the cost of treatment. We must do everything we can to reduce the cost of that treatment and to make it available to all.
To those who say that condom use is not effective in preventing the transmission of the HIV virus, I say they do a great deal of damage and in fact they cost lives. Condoms
work. Needle exchange
work. Good practices
work and they save lives. And those who promote abstinence? Well, if abstinence can work in sexual relationships, of course it will. But what about when abstinence is not a choice? The young 14-year old girl raped on a highway in Africa: does she have a choice? No. She has no choice. And that is where education and the promotion of awareness-raising and ending the discrimination that blights the lives of people living with AIDS and HIV is so important.
Finally, I do not think she is often quoted in this House, but I want to quote Madonna – that is the pop star. She once said that to come out and declare your sexuality is to be a hero. To come out and say that you are HIV positive and to deal with the discrimination and the anger that you therefore suffer is to declare yourself a warrior: a warrior because you fight the battles that you never want another generation to have to fight again.
I commend the report and I commend it to the House."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
"do"1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples