[Ip-health] European Parliament resolution on HIV/AIDS: Time to Deliver
Alexandra HEUMBER
Alexandra.HEUMBER@brussels.msf.org
Tue Jul 11 05:49:16 2006
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Dear all,
Please find below the resolution adopted by the European Parliament on
Thursday 6 July 2006 on HIV/AIDS: Time to Deliver.
See notably:
- the point 18 related to the unaffordability of newer drugs and
particularly second-line treatments due to the lack of competition
- the point 19 related to bilateral and regional free trade agreement
issue.
Alexandra Heumber
M=E9decins Sans Fronti=E8res
Access to Medicines Campaign
EU Advocacy Liaison Officer
C/O MSF-B
Rue Dupr=E9, 94
1090 Brussels
++32 (0) 2 474 75 09 (Dir off)
++ 32 (0) 479 514 900 (Mob)
++ 32 (0) 2 474 75 75 (Fax)
Texts adopted by Parliament Thursday 6 July 2006 -
Strasbourg Provisional edition
AIDS - Time to deliver P6_TA-PROV(2006)0321
B6-0375, 0377, 0378, 0379 and 0380/2006
European Parliament resolution on HIV/AIDS: Time to Deliver
The European Parliament ,
- having regard to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session
(UNGASS) High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS of 2 June 2006 and the political
declaration adopted at that meeting,
- having regard to the UN Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, 'Global
Crisis - Global Action', adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on
27 June 2001, during its 26th Special Session,
- having regard to the United Nations position paper on 'Preventing the
Transmission of HIV among Drug Abusers',
- having regard to the forthcoming International Conference on
'HIV/AIDS: Time to Deliver', to be held in Toronto in August 2006,
- having regard to the Abuja Declaration of 27 April 2001 on HIV/AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Other Related Infectious Diseases, and to Africa's Common
Position to the UNGASS 2006 High-Level Meeting and the Call for
Accelerated Action Towards Universal Access to HIV and AIDS, Tuberculosis
and Malaria Services in Africa, signed in Abuja on 4 May 2006 by the
African Union,
- having regard to the 2006 report by UNAIDS on the global AIDS
epidemic,
- having regard to Rule 103(4) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas more than 65 million people in the world have been infected
with HIV, more than 25 million people have died, 15 million children have
been orphaned by AIDS, and, of the 40 million people currently living with
HIV, over 95% live in the developing world, with over 70% in Sub-Saharan
Africa alone,
B. whereas unprotected heterosexual sex is now the single most important
factor in the spread of HIV infections worldwide and half of all new HIV
infections affect young people under the age of 25,
C. whereas women now represent half of all people living with AIDS and
60% of those living with AIDS in Africa, with women being between two and
four times as susceptible to catching the disease as men,
D. whereas women and girls, young people, older people, men who have sex
with men, injecting and other drug users, sex workers, transgender
populations, prisoners, migrant labourers, orphans, people in conflict and
post-conflict situations, indigenous peoples, refugees and internally
displaced persons, as well as HIV/AIDS outreach workers, are amongst the
most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and to the impact of the pandemic,
E. whereas realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all
is essential to reduce vulnerability to HIV/AIDS,
F. whereas many organisations that attended the 2006 UNGASS High-Level
Meeting on HIV/AIDS reported and publicly denounced the fact that the
political and economic interests of a few prevailed over the needs of
millions of people in developing countries, resulting in a weak
declaration with no clear targets or financial commitments,
G. whereas the countries most affected by HIV and AIDS will fail to
achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and will continue to
weaken, potentially threatening social stability,
H. whereas the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
("the Global Fund"), set up in January 2002, has shown impressive results
to date, with more than 540 000 people living with HIV now having access
to life-saving antiretroviral treatment through programmes the Fund is
financing,
I. whereas the Doha Declaration placed the protection of public health
above the protection of private commercial interests and confirmed the
right of developing countries to use TRIPS Agreement safeguards, such as
compulsory licences, to overcome patents when necessary in order to
protect public health and promote access to medicines for all,
J. whereas the current pricing system based on companies giving
voluntary discounts on medicines to developing countries does not
guarantee the affordability of medicines, with some single-source drugs
being too expensive even with a discount, some discounts not being
available because manufacturers have not registered or are not marketing
their drugs in certain countries, and some companies not offering
discounts at all to middle-income countries,
1. Welcomes the commitment to a massive scale-up of HIV prevention,
treatment and care, with the aim of coming as close as possible to the
goal of universal access to treatment by 2010 for all who need it, made at
the 2005 meeting of the G8 nations and the September 2005 United Nations
World Summit by world leaders and reconfirmed at the 2006 High-Level
meeting on AIDS;
2. Welcomes the UNGASS declaration of 2 June 2006, in particular its
references to promoting access to medicines for all, which includes
production of generic antiretroviral drugs and other essential drugs for
AIDS-related infections;
3. Regrets, nevertheless, that the declaration lacks any global targets
or timelines on treatment, resources and prevention, and does not provide
a viable action plan to back up the goal of providing universal access for
all HIV-affected people by 2010;
4. Calls on the international community to deliver on its promises during
the Toronto Conference in August, and calls on the Commission and Member
States to ensure that health spending in developing countries reaches
levels commensurate with the political commitments made;
5. Expresses grave concern at the fact that half of all new HIV
infections occur among children and young people;
6. Expresses disappointment at the fact that, although a large number of
infections occur due to the sharing of drug abuse needles, there are still
no effective programmes in operation for providing clean needles to drug
addicts in many countries, including Member States;
7. Calls for measures to be taken to reduce the level of needlestick and
medical sharp injuries received by health-care workers;
8. Stresses that, in order to effectively halt and reverse the spread of
HIV/AIDS, it is essential to target key vulnerable groups with specific
measures;
9. Remains deeply concerned by the overall expansion and feminisation of
the pandemic and the fact that women now represent 50% of people living
with HIV worldwide and 60% of people living with HIV in Africa;
10. Emphasises that sexual and reproductive health rights are crucial to
combating HIV/AIDS, and urges the Commission and partner countries to
prioritise broad prevention strategies in Country Strategy Papers,
including programmes promoting the use of condoms and HIV/AIDS education
geared towards young people;
11. Criticises the Commission's poor track record in development fund
spending in the healthcare sector; stresses, for example, that in 2003
only 5,2% of the EDF was earmarked for health spending and only 4% in
2002, and deplores the fact that the Commission intends to propose that
only 6% of development funds within the new development cooperation
instrument be allocated to human and social development, covering not only
healthcare, HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health, but all other
aspects of social development, including children, education and gender
programmes;
12. Calls on the Commission to double its budget for healthcare in
developing countries within the Development Cooperation Instrument and to
aim for at least 50% of all ODA (Official Development Assistance) to be
spent on achieving the Millennium Development Goals;
13. Stresses that the Commission is one of the main donors of the Global
Fund, contributing overall EUR 522 million over the period 2002-2006;
calls on the Commission to consider increasing its contribution to the
Fund;
14. Recognises the importance of country ownership, calls on developing
countries to prioritise health spending in general and combating HIV/AIDS
in particular, and calls on the Commission to support commitments made by
the developing countries in line with the Abuja commitment to spending at
least 15% of their general budget on health, and to provide incentives for
partner countries in order to encourage them to prioritise health as a key
sector in Country Strategy Papers;
15. Calls on the Commission, when appropriate and subject to strict
conditions, to allow for large increases in sectoral budgetary support to
health sectors, particularly to retain key health workers in developing
countries, and calls for the speeding-up of the recruitment and training
of health-care workers at all levels;
16. Urges the promotion, at international, regional, national and local
level, of access to HIV/AIDS education, information, voluntary
counselling, testing and related services, with full protection of
confidentiality and informed consent, and the promotion of a social and
legal environment that is supportive of and safe for voluntary disclosure
of HIV status;
17. Stresses the importance of local action and the fact that prevention,
treatment and care responses need the involvement of local communities;
18. Notes that 1 January 2005 saw the implementation of the WTO's
agreement on TRIPS in India, compelling India to recognise product patents
on medicines; stresses that newer drugs, and particularly more expensive
second-line treatments, must not be produced only by patent holders that
could set a monopoly price unaffordable for developing countries;
19. Criticises bilateral and regional trade agreements which restrict, if
not eliminate, the safeguards established by the Doha Declaration;
stresses the need to ensure the primacy of health over commercial
interests; points out the responsibility of those countries, in particular
the United States, that put pressure on developing countries to sign such
free-trade agreements;
20. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to work with UNAIDS in
its role to build on and support national efforts to set in place
inclusive, transparent processes, and ambitious national targets on HIV
prevention, treatment, care and support;
21. Calls for comprehensive reviews of the progress achieved in realising
the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS to be undertaken in 2008 and
2011, within the annual reviews of the UN General Assembly;
22. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council,
the Commission, the governments of the Member States, the UN
Secretary-General, UNAIDS and the World Health Organisation.
Last updated: 7 July 2006