Brussels, 29/09/2000 (Agence Europe) - At the opening of the international round table on accelerating the fight against transmissible diseases, on Thursday in Brussels, organised by the European Commission under the responsibility of Commissioner Poul Nielson and sponsored by the WHO and the UNAIDS programme (see EUROPE of 27 September, p.16), there was obvious determination to translate into action the declarations of intent for effectively combating these diseases in developing countries.
"Developing countries, where most poor people live, are suffering under the double burden of poverty combined with an explosion in three communicable diseases; HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. One of these diseases - malaria - we thought we had come near to eradicating in some parts of the developing world. Another, HIV/AIDS, has only more recently emerged as a major killer. Associated with AIDS, tuberculosis is killing more poor people than ever before. I want to see the EU playing a larger and more effective role in assisting developing countries to confront these epidemics".
It was with these words that European Commission President Romano Prodi introduced the top level meeting, setting the tone and the stakes of the debate: to come to an agreement on the priorities of an action plan for eradicating three scourges recognised as slowing down the development of the poorest countries. All participants obviously supported this guideline.
"We now know that HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis are themselves major causes of poverty. The success or failure of our collective response to these threats holds the key to the economic security - not just of individuals and communities - but of nations and continents", declared Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director General of the World Health Organisation.
Dr Bernard Pécoul from Médecins sans Frontières welcomed the initiative of the Commission and above all its willingness to "use WTO safeguards which act as a counterweight to the adverse effects of patents". He added by asking how the Union can seriously fight against HIV/AIDS in developing countries if it is not ready to discuss the treatment of patients with medicine cocktails. He says that what is needed is a political commitment on the part of Europe to guarantee it will not just cross its arms and do nothing while 26 million people die of HIV/AIDS in Africa because medicine is too expensive. The European Commissioner responsible for trade policy, Pascal Lamy, said he was personally committed to this fundamental aspect of the provision of medicine under conditions that are compatible with the situation in developing countries. He specified that action must not only be on prices, taxes and patents but also for production in the countries (using Article 31 of the TRIPS agreement).