§ 20. Joan RyanTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on her Department's work on HIV/AIDS. [21902]
§ Clare ShortHIV/AIDS is the single most important development challenge in Africa. We know what needs to be done to tackle the disease, and countries such as Uganda, Thailand and Cambodia have shown that political commitment and leadership can help to contain the spread of the disease. My Department supports comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention, control and mitigation programmes. We continue to give greatest priority to prevention, but we also place emphasis on reducing the personal, social and economic impact of illness and death caused by the disease.
We seek to support the development, strengthening and implementation of national strategies to combat HIV/AIDS and to provide assistance in the framework of such strategies. We have recently approved several new major programmes to support national HIV/AIDs responses in, for example, Russia, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Nigeria, China and India totalling around £300 million, and a £20 million programme is being designed to support Mozambique. A major new multi-sectoral HIV programme for South Africa is also planned for this year.
My Department is supporting the development of HIV/AIDS vaccines through the support of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. Work is under way to support the development of microbicides to prevent HIV. We are also working on a range of initiatives which aim to increase the long-term affordability and availability of treatment for HIV/AIDS and related infections.
Our strategy for our HIV/AIDS works is outlined in our HIV/AIDS strategy paper published in summer 2001 and available in the Library of the House.
§ 29. Fiona MactaggartTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to help poor countries which have been hard hit by HIV and AIDS. [21911]
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§ Clare ShortHIV/AIDS is the single most important development challenge in Africa. The epidemic is undermining economic growth and fundamentally threatens social and economic development in many countries. It also poses a threat to health in many other countries around the world. My Department supports comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention, control and mitigation programmes. We continue to give greatest priority to prevention, but we also place emphasis on reducing the personal, social and economic impact of illness and death caused by the disease.
We seek to support the development, strengthening and implementation of national strategies to combat HIV/AIDS and to provide assistance in the framework of such strategies. We have recently approved several new major programmes to support national HIV/AIDS responses in, for example, Russia, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Nigeria, China and India totalling around £300 million, and a £20 million programme is being designed to support Mozambique. A major new multi-sectoral HIV programme for South Africa is also planned for this year. We have committed £25 million to support the International Partnership Against AIDS in Africa.
In addition, the Government are exploring the potential of a number of options for increasing the long-term affordability and availability of treatment for HIV/AIDS and related infections, while maintaining a focus on the development of sustainable health systems which is needed to deliver them.
Our strategy for our HIV/AIDS work is outlined in our HIV/AIDS strategy paper published in summer 2001 and available in the Library of the House.