APPENDIX 5
Memorandum submitted by the All-Party
Parliamentary Group on AIDS
On behalf of the All-Party Parliamentary Group
on AIDS, I would like to express our strong support for the Select
Committee's decision to hold an inquiry into HIV/AIDS and its
social and economic impact.
The timing of the inquiry is opportune. The
scale of the HIV crisis in the developing world is slowly becoming
apparent to the developed world. Although statistics for infections
and deaths have been available for a long time, its profile has
remained regrettably low in Western consciousness. Alongside the
G8 Summit in Japan, the recent UN Security Council meeting on
HIV, the US's recent declaration that AIDS is a security threat
and the International AIDS Conference in Durban, your inquiry
will help build momentum for Western governments and international
organisations to put this crisis at the top of the international
development and security agendas.
I would particularly hope to see the inquiry
identify directions for the developed world's role in supporting
worst-affected countries to deal with and, hopefully, reduce their
high levels of infections. In particular, ways in which Western
governments, multinational companies, international agencies,
international NGOs and charities can work together to:
support cultural change within developing
countries to reduce the extreme stigma of HIV infection and the
social and sexual cultures which contribute to the spread of HIV
infection, such as the lack of empowerment of women and girls
in sexual relationships;
improve access to drugs, especially
for the treatments of opportunistic infections and palliative
care but also for anti-retrovirals if appropriate; this will include
looking at the relationship between multinational pharmaceuticals
and governments which lack the health care infrastructure and
funding to purchase drugs at Western prices;
improve the provision of condoms
to countries where need is outstripping availability;
protect the human rights of people
infected with and at risk of HIV, following the 12 international
guidelines on HIV and human rights issued by UNAIDS and UN Commissioner
for Human Rights;
encourage and support political leaders
and governments to head national responses to HIV, such Ugandan
and Senegalese governments; politicians need to be encouraged
to enact legislation which is protective of human rights, as identified
in the UNAIDS/IPU Handbook for Legislators on HIV/AIDS, Law
and Human Rights; and
balance investment in the search
for a vaccine with the need to invest in preventing the sexual
transmission of the virus.
Recent exchanges between President Thabo Mbeki
and Western leaders emphasise the importance of sensitivity and
respect for sovereignty as we offer advice and support to African
countries as they struggle to respond to AIDS. Our interventions
are always experienced within a post-colonial context and, if
not made with great care, run the risk of alienating African leaders
and driving them away from the best Western evidence. Unfortunately,
it appears this might be happening in South Africa. President
Mbeki's search for an alternative view of HIV/AIDS is a direct
response to the experience of being informed about South Africa's
problems and their solutions by Western governments, especially
when those solutions have involved buying expensive pharmaceuticals
from Western multinationals.
Realistic solutions to HIV/AIDS must be sought
within the context of African and Asian social economic and cultural
systems. The Western model of health education campaigns, which
have not proved their effectiveness here in any case, cannot be
simply applied to countries where the priorities of its citizens
are so different. The use of anti-retrovirals to slow down the
death rate, as has happened in the West, will not work unless
health structures are also put in place.
In Britain, HIV has forced us, often reluctantly,
to try to talk openly about sex, death, infection, stigma and
discrimination. The scale of HIV in the developing world magnifies
the fears, fatalism and despair. It is the West's duty to offer
our experience, material support and expertise to help developing
countries determine their own responses.
If I may suggest a possible witness for your
inquiry, Jeffrey O'Malley of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance
and Chair of the UK NGO AIDS Consortium has been a reliable guide
to this issue for the Group and was an excellent speaker at a
recent meeting on the roles of DFID, the EU, NGOs and communities
in tackling AIDS.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on AIDS congratulates
the Select Committee on deciding to undertake this important inquiry
and would be very pleased to support the hearings, the report
or its reception in any way you feel is appropriate.
Neil Gerrard MP
Chairman, All-Party Parliamentary Group on AIDS
May 2000
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