Commission at forefront of fight against serious diseases
The European Commission, the World Health Organisation, (WHO) Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) united yesterday to announce a common stand against HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in the developing world. At a high level round table in Brussels, President of the Commission, Romano Prodi and six other Commissioners including Philippe Busquin, Commissioner for Research and Poul Nielson, Commissioner for Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Aid, were joined by the Director General of WHO, Executive Director of UNAIDS, the Prime Minister of Mozambique and representatives from the governments of Brazil, India, Senegal, Swaziland, Uganda and Zambia. The round table is the first step in designing a new programme of action for the EU following the adoption last week of a new policy framework on accelerated action to target HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Participants were invited by the Commission yesterday to present a convincing case of their ideas and approaches to making the EU's actions more efficient and effective. The Commission also took the opportunity to reassert the EU's commitment to greater funding for a new global effort. 'I want to see the EU playing a larger and more effective role in assisting developing countries to confront these epidemics' said Mr Prodi in his opening speech. Commissioner Nielson added that the Commission will seek to increasingly move investment in priority research towards finding long term solutions, such as a vaccine to prevent AIDS. The Commission hopes that the round table will be an important step in the process of setting out a long term EU action programme to tackle poverty and HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Romano Prodi intends to announce the programme and designated resources at the forthcoming follow-up consultation to the G8 Okinawa summit in December.