Brussels, 20/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday the Commission will adopt a Communication concerning an action programme for the acceleration of the fight against AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis as an instrument to fight against poverty in developing countries. This document, prepared on the initiative of Commissioners Poul Nielson (Development), Chris Patten (External Relations), Byrne (Health), Busquin (Research), Lamy (Trade), Liikanen (Industry) sets out the integrated political framework in which lies the Community action for the 2001-2006 period to take part in the intensification of efforts, at the global level, in view of more radically tackling the three main transmissible and deadly diseases that mainly affect the poorest countries, by blocking their development.
The three objectives outlined by the Commission to steer the Community action are as follows: a) improve the impact and effectiveness of the existing strategies and technologies in terms of support to the health sector in the framework of the cooperation for development (by accelerating the making available of funds aimed at improving health, by reallocating unused resources towards the fight against transmissible diseases, by continuing the prevention efforts); b) make vital medicines more affordable (which will require among other an examination of the tax duties and customs duties, the creation of a scaled price system for the poorest developing countries, the mobilisation of investors for the strengthening of the capabilities of the developing countries in the fields linked to trade and health, notably through the implementation of the agreement on the aspects of intellectual property rights that affects trade - ADPIC); c) the intensification of research and development in world goods (notably through increased public support for R&D activity dedicated to clinical trials, with incentive measures for private investments in favour of R&D, through the enhancing of research capabilities in developing countries).
The Commission feels that increased coordination between the Community and other donors - United Nations, G8 partners, World Bank and Member States - taking advantage of their respective comparative advantages is the necessary corollary of this action framework to increase the complementarity and efficiency of resources allocated to the fight against these diseases.
The method to implement this policy framework will be outlined in specific and detailed work plans that the Commission services will draw up once the programme is adopted. Announced in the Commission Communication from September 2000 on the same issue, this action programme is inspired from the conclusions of the international round table, which the Commission had organised last September, with the support of the WHO and the UN/AIDS programme (see EUROPE of 27 September, p.16 and of 30 September, p.15) to jointly define the broad guidelines of a concerted action at the world level aiming to reduce the sanitary and economic incidence of the three main transmissible diseases in the LDC.