Presenters:
Dr.
Alice Welbourne, International Community of Women with HIV/AIDS
Robin
Gorna, Global AIDS Policy Team Leader, Department for International
Development
Dr.
Jim Kim, Director HIV/AIDS, WHO
Dr.
Alvaro Bermejo, Executive Director of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance
Abstract:
The first speaker to
address the room was Dr. Alice Welbourn from the International
Community of Women living with HIV/AIDS. She listed 8 wishes for the
G8 meeting to consider.
Title: “Women,
HIV and a fairy tale: 8 requests for the G8...”
Secondly Robin
Gorna, the Team Leader for DFID’s AIDS team spoke. She spoke about the
role of the G8 meeting and the role of the UK and DFID in the coming EU
Presidency.
She said that “AIDS
will be a centre piece of the UK’s presidencies of the EU and G8 in 2005
in the context of our strong commitment to Africa”.
The priorities
for AIDS in 2005 are:
-
Making the Money Work – securing more and better aid to deliver
comprehensive AIDS response including access to treatment, HIV,
prevention, care for orphans and the children affected by AIDS.
-
Maintaining HIV Prevention Momentum – securing comprehensive HIV
prevention programmes – including sexual and reproductive health and
rights and harm reduction – and developing new HIV prevention
technologies – especially microbicides and vaccines.
The G8:
-
Collaborative partnership of 8 rich and powerful countries: UK, US
France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, Russia.
-
The G8 is consensus building and not a decision making body. It has no
legislative power.
-
The two priorities for UK are Africa and Climate Change. HIV and AIDS is
at the forefront of the Africa agenda.
The EU
Presidency: DFID’s role
The role of the
presidency:
- To
facilitate
- To
build consensus
- To
represent EU member states
Obligations:
-
Inherited legislative agenda/ reforms
-
External representation
Opportunities:
-
Promote key EU themes on AIDS
Key Agenda Items
include
-
European Commission “Programme of Action to Confront HIV/AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria through External Action” 2007-2011.
- EU
development policy
-
Financial Perspectives
Key Events:
- G8
Summitt, Gleneagles 6-8 July
-
GFATM Replenishment Conference and Global Task Team feedback meetings,
London 5-6 September.
-
Millennium Review Summit, New York 14-16 September
-
Unicef - UK Global Partners Forum for children affected by AIDS (OVCs)
October/ November
-
World AIDS Day High level event (possible
focus on maintaining HIV prevention momentum), London 1st
December.
She also mentioned
that the UK’s commitment to tackling HIV and AIDS is described in the
Labour Party Manifesto:
‘With this
leadership and extra money, we can now work to ensure that all children go
to school, and millions of people in Asia and Africa suffering from AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria have access to treatment. In particular, we will
press for an international agreement on universal access to AIDS treatment
by 2010 and for all people in poor countries to have access to free basic
healthcare and education.’
…and in a communiqué
form the G8 Finance Ministers
(9
June 2005):
Tackling
diseases that undermine growth and exacerbate poverty in developing
countries will require not only strengthened health systems, but also
improved treatment, including universal access for AIDS treatment by
2010 and development of vaccines, including for HIV and malaria. We
have made progress this year in implementing the Global HIV Vaccine
Enterprise agreed at Sea Island, and are committed both to taking this
further; and to scaling up our support for vaccines and medicines research
through the successful Public Private Partnerships model. We call for a
report on progress by the end of the year. We recognise also that
advance purchase commitments (APCs) are potentially a powerful mechanism
to incentivise research, development and the production of vaccines for
HIV, malaria and other diseases. We asked Minister Siniscalco to consult
the relevant institutions, governments and industry, with the aim of
developing concrete proposals by the end of this year.
Next Dr
Jim Kim, the Director of HIV/AIDS for the WHO
spoke addressing the WHO’s work on 3 by 5 and other agendas in
Africa.
Firstly he mentioned that even if there are not 3 million people on ARVs
at the end of 2005 the world will still have achieved an enormous amount
as it will have removed it from the attitude that ARVs are a waste of time
in Africa because “ Africans can’t tell time and therefore not take these
drugs which are hugely dependent on being taken at a certain time”.
With
this victory he said that the Agenda for the EU and the G8 is to focus on
technical support, human resources and “bring order to chaos”. Financing;
getting the money that has been promised and making it work is a huge
priority.
He
addressed Robin Gorna’s point about the promise in the Labour Party
manifesto and said that it had “put the elephant on the table” and that
now that the UK and the rest of the world through initiatives such as the
Global Fund and Pepfar are agreeing that people should be tested and
treated it is important to make a system that works.
Referring to the
WHO’s current ‘3 by 5’ goal to get three million people on HIV treatment
by the end of this year he admitted: “Did we really think it could stop at
that?” It is estimated that nearly seven million people worldwide
currently need HIV treatment – but a lot more will by 2010.
But he said there had been huge progress in the last six months.
“At the World Health Assembly last year, developing world health ministers
were saying, ‘We don’t know if we can do it’.
“At the Assembly that’s took place last month, they were saying ‘You know,
it’s not nearly as complicated as we thought.’
“Demand is outstripping supply, and morale in the health sector has gone
up dramatically as workers see dying patients brought in on wheelbarrows
walk out the clinic a few weeks later.”
He added that 3 by 5 would not be a failure even if it did not get the
three million on treatment by the end of this year. “If you reach all your
goals, your goals aren’t ambitious enough,” he said.
He said the biggest challenge remained training enough health workers to
mount the huge treatment push.
He also
mentioned huge advantages in technology such as the GPS system which can
be made available to this fight and would be particularly helpful to the
most marginalised and suffering people like women and OVCs living in the
countryside in Africa away from the larger medical centres.
The
next step is universal access for 2010 and he said that with the elephant
on the table that the world should be aiming higher as the goals that seem
impossible to reach will at least move things on very far.
Last
Dr Alvaro Bermejo, the Executive Director of the International
HIV/AIDS Alliance spoke.
Dr
Bermejo stated that despite technological advances and an improved
attitude to testing and treating people in Africa the epidemic is running
away from us. There is still a huge amount left to do.
Dr
Bermejo also said:
“This
year’s G8 meeting is a critical moment for HIV/AIDS. The Summit provides
an unrivalled opportunity to extend the momentum created by the World
Health Organization’s ‘3 by 5’ initiative by replacing it with a strategy
for universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment and care by 2010,” Dr Bermejo
said.
“3 by 5 has established much
of the technical groundwork to scale up access to treatment, but it is
fundamentally hampered by a lack of resources and political commitment. A
commitment from the leaders of the eight richest countries in the world
would make a vital contribution to the resources and the political will
that’s needed to put people living with HIV/AIDS on treatment.
The G8
has in the past proven that it is capable of getting the ball rolling.
Therefore if it can be persuaded to set it mind to it we might reach
universal treatment by 2010. Bermejo said that he desired a funding
agreement between the nations to be aligned with the agreement on
universal access 2010.
Studies show that having to pay for ARVs are a huge deterant. Even though
prices have come down in the last few years the price is still not
manageable in poor countries. This leads to missed doses and resistant
strains being developed.
There
therefore needs to be a service delivery approach, an access delivery
approach and a way to empower communities to help themselves.
In
Brussels the International HIV/ AIDS Alliance work to engage the EU on the
work of prevention. To highlight the importance of this work Dr Bermejo
mentioned that there is very strong pressure from the US Government to
chop certain elements of the prevention system. The role of the EU is
therefore immensely important as it together with the WHO and the Global
Fund must stand up to the pressure of the US which, if it has its way,
will worsen the prevention work in many areas of Sub-Saharan Africa.
ALL-PARTY
PARLIAMENTARY 
