§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what action she(a) is taking (b) proposes to take to control the spread of AIDS in Africa; and what funding her Department provides for such measures; [20382]
§ Clare ShortThe Department is contributing to the international effort through annual grants to UNAIDS which is responsible for co-ordinating the UN response to 27W HIV/AIDS. DFID also works through its bilateral partnerships in many African countries and is funding research which is contributing to the development of new methods of protection against infection such as mircrobicides. For future work, we attach particular importance to making renewed efforts to meet the needs of adolescents.
Bilateral expenditure on HIV/AIDS related activities (including prevention, treatment and care) in Africa in calendar year 1996 was £9.2 million. In addition, DFID's contribution to UNAIDS was £3.5 million. It is not possible to disaggregate the proportion of this spent in Africa. Elements of DFID contributions to the UK Medical Research Council and to multilateral agencies (EU, World Bank, United Nations Population Fund and the International Planned Parenthood Federation) will also be expended on HIV/AIDS related activities in Africa but similarly cannot be disaggregated.