Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-04-24-Speech-2-074"
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".
Mr President, I would like to thank all the Members of the European Parliament, and also the Commission, for the debate we have had today, which shows very clearly how our common action in doing our utmost to keep new infections at as low a level as possible, and to guarantee unrestricted access to treatment for people who are infected, is to a very considerable degree dependent on the subject not being made taboo, and on the sufferers not being stigmatised and discriminated against.
I am glad that it has been spelled out, both here and at the major conference in Bremen, that HIV/AIDS must go to the top of the agenda, for I am firmly persuaded that it is only if the Heads of State or Government make this issue their own that we will, everywhere, and not least in our neighbouring countries, be able to ensure the creation of the infrastructure that is needed if cooperation with civil society and, above all, with sufferers, is to bear fruit, and if the things to which reference has been made are actually to be done.
The first thing we must do is to give some thought to prevention and information, asking ourselves how we get the message across to young people, to immigrants, or to those to whom access is difficult, such as, for example, those women who have been forced into prostitution; this can be done only through close cooperation between those with political power and those within civil society who accept responsibility and work with us, and mention of forced prostitution makes it clear that this is not just about health policy, for governments must do all they can to protect women.
Thirdly, prevention is possible only if we talk frankly about how infection can happen, and that might well lead to us, in our own countries, adopting a drugs policy that does not criminalise drugs, because, although action must be taken, including by means of the law, against drug pushers, those who have become ill as a result of their addiction must be assured of such things as access to clean needles and of easy access to help and services. All these things have a part to play in this. This is far from an easy path to take, not least in the countries around us, where the Member States and their governments face the accusation that, by adopting such a policy, they are themselves acting as dealers and encouraging drug dependency – a taboo subject in many countries.
It is for this reason that I was, in Bremen, very glad to see that the ministers from the new Eastern European Member States were willing to talk very frankly about these things, because I see in this frank and open approach to these problems, in the removal of taboos, a way in which we can move forward in the way we all hope to do.
That being so, then, if we pool best practices in the prevention field and exchange ideas, if we jointly invest in research and development and take up this cause, we have already taken a step forward.
Secondly, I am very much in favour of your House, the Member States and the Commission coming to the shared realisation that any real campaign against HIV/AIDS also needs the sort of infrastructure that makes health care possible while also ensuring that the people accessing treatment find qualified people to talk to when they do so.
Thirdly, we have to ensure that access to affordable medicines can be assured in every Member State by allowing 10% of the health budget to be spent on HIV vaccinations or treatments.
I appreciate the opportunity given for this debate here today, and am very glad that we will continue to cooperate closely in addressing this issue for the sake of the people who live alongside us and in order that young people may be protected against HIV/AIDS infection."@en1
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