§ 28. Mr. DavidsonTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance the United Kingdom is providing to combat the spread of AIDS in southern Africa. [95607]
§ Clare ShortWe have provided over £40 million in the last five years to countries in southern Africa to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and to deal with its social and economic impacts. We are working with national and regional programmes to promote behaviour change, school and peer education for young people, social marketing of condoms and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. We are assessing the impact of HIV/AIDS in all of our new programmes in the region and we are including measures to reduce or mitigate the impact of AIDS where possible.
We plan to support the implementation of SADC's regional HIV/AIDS strategy, working with other donors. At national level our programmes include support for the South African National AIDS Control Programme and development of the HIV/AIDS National Plan In Mozambique. In South Africa, support is being provided for a joint Government/Private Sector/Trade Union initiative with mining communities to promote safe sex practices and to deal effectively with sexually transmitted diseases. DFID has funded the production and distribution, throughout South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia, of school materials targeted at 12 to 16 year olds which highlight HIV/AIDS issues. We have just approved a £35 million contribution to support Malawi's sexual and reproductive health programme over 232W six years. My Department is considering new proposals on HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe (up to £15 million over five years), Zambia and Mozambique.