HIV/AIDS (Hansard, 4 July 2003)

§ Mr. Lazarowicz
To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what measures the Government are taking with their international partners to reduce the price of antiretroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS treatment imported to poor countries. [123048]

§ Hilary Benn
The UK Government are working to improve access to new and existing medicines, for poor people in developing countries, including for HIV/ AIDS. The factors recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that can improve poor peoples' access to medicines are: affordable pricing, sustainable financing, reliable health and supply systems and the rational selection and use of existing drugs.
Clare Short chaired a High Level Working Group on Increasing Access to Essential Medicines in the Developing World, which examined these issues in detail. The Working Group made a series of recommendations for action which are being taken forward by a number of stakeholders.
We need to work with others to tackle the issues affecting access, if we are to make progress. The recent G8 Summit at Evian also secured commitment to action on access to medicines. The G8 Health Action Plan is in line with the Working Group's recommendations and provides a good basis for future collaborative action with a range of stakeholders, including the pharmaceutical industry. We are devoting significant effort to taking this forward, particularly at country level.
The Government have also supported efforts within the European Union to put in place an EU Regulation that will prevent the diversion or 'leakage' of cheaper products from developing countries back to the EU. This is to encourage companies to offer their medicines (including anti-retrovirals) at significantly lower prices to developing countries.
With regard to generic production in particular, the UK is trying to find a solution to the outstanding issue from the Doha Declaration on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and Public Health, i.e. how countries with insufficient or no manufacturing capacity in the pharmaceutical sector can make effective use of compulsory licensing procedures within the TRIPS Agreement.

§ Mr. Lazarowicz
To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what the 511W Government's policy is on the appointment of an EU AIDS Ambassador to help co-ordinate the fight against the disease. [123049]

§ Hilary Benn
We are unaware of any plans to appoint an EU AIDS Ambassador. We welcome the opportunity of increased spending on HIV/AIDS from European Commission financial instruments, including the new budget line to fight poverty-related diseases and the EC contribution to the Global Fund to fight HIV/ AIDS, TB and Malaria. We continue to call for EC spending to be more poverty-focused and to be better co-ordinated.

§ Mrs. Spelman
To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what discussions his Department has had with the Governments of Sub-Saharan Africa regarding the need for agricultural institutions to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. [123646]

§ Hilary Benn
DFID has held extensive discussions with African Governments over this issue; these have covered involvement in poverty reduction strategy working groups and the design and implementation of programmes to combat HIV/AIDS, as well as donor coordination groups and negotiations connected with the design and implementation of agricultural sector support programmes. DFID has also financed relevant research programmes that involve African institutions and supported analytical work on the links between HIV/AIDS and recent food insecurity in southern Africa.