MP calls for more support for AIDS Fund

Neil Gerrard, Labour MP for Walthamstow, chaired a lobby at the House of Commons this week, jointly organised by ACTSA (Action for Southern Africa), UNISON, and the National Union of Students. The lobby was to urge the Government to increase support for the Global Fund for Health, set up to tackle the killer diseases of HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and TB.

“Over 40 million people are now infected with HIV” said Mr Gerrard. “Every single day 6500 people are dying in Africa from AIDS, and double that number are becoming infected with HIV. The epidemic is getting worse. There are now countries where teachers and nurses are dying faster than they can be trained, where huge numbers of children are being orphaned, where life expectancy is falling rapidly, and where civil society is in danger of collapse.”

“The international community has pledged help for Africa. The Global Fund was established to channel money to where it is most needed. So far the rhetoric has not been matched by action. Even though Britain is now the second largest donor in the world, we are not giving as much as we should. In the West we now have drugs that can help people to stay alive whereas only 1% of Africans infected with HIV can get the drugs they need. This cannot be allowed to continue.”

Mr Gerrard  had last week attended a conference in Dublin, where MPs from both European and African countries met to discuss how best to tackle the AIDS epidemic. “We all recognised the need to work together, and to campaign for the resources needed to help developing countries cope with this devastating infection.”

April 2004

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