Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-12-12-Speech-3-328"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20071212.30.3-328"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, once again we have the opportunity to discuss this serious health threat in the European Parliament. It was only a few months ago that we had the opportunity to discuss the Community Action Plan regarding this health threat. Our concern does not, of course, relate only to the European Community, but also to the whole world.
But, as I said earlier, the challenges arising from HIV and AIDS are present well beyond the European Union boundaries. It is true that, worldwide, there has been some good progress in terms of access to HIV-related services, especially low-middle-income countries. Now, about 95% of people infected with HIV live in those countries.
Thanks to an unprecedented increase in international funding in these countries, the number of people receiving treatment has considerably increased, from 100 000 in 2001 to 2.5 million people in 2007. These are impressive figures; nevertheless, more than 70% of people in need of ARV treatment in these countries do not receive it or do not have access to it. This shows that we still have a long way to go.
The European action is financed through a wide array of financial instruments both at national and global level, such as the global fund, for example. There are also other financing mechanisms through public private partnerships. Progress has been achieved through these joint efforts with the international community, but we still have a long way to go, and this requires strong cooperation among the European institutions.
As I said at the beginning, our principal goal is to bring the number of new HIV infections down and work towards the best possible solutions in terms of support, treatment and care for those who are already living with HIV/AIDS. I therefore want to emphasis this once again: fighting the stigma – the social exclusion, the discrimination of the disease and people suffering from it or being affected by it – is very important and unless we do that we will never be able to control the situation. To do that, we need to raise awareness campaigns and increase them.
This is why the motto of the European Commission in this action against AIDS is ‘Remember me’, because it is a forgotten disease at all levels, or at least it has become one. We will now bring it back to the forefront; but it is not just for the citizens, to remind them of the existence of this disease, but also for the decision-makers, to make sure that they put it back at the top of the political agenda and take all the necessary actions. In this respect I am counting – and I know I have it – on the support of the European Parliament.
We are concerned with the rise of infections, with the number of people who are affected and living with HIV worldwide, and the number of 33 million people, for us, is too high. Therefore, we want to take action within the European Union but also coordinate with all the other international players outside the EU to tackle this issue globally. This also matches the new European Community health strategy, which includes a global role for the European Union in the area of health.
Areas we can concentrate on: first of all, to prevent infection – this is very important. At the same time, to make sure that testing is available, and treatment and care where needed. To achieve all this, we need to raise awareness, and this is a very important factor; this is something where we are lagging behind – I will come back to that in a minute. But also the social stigma. This is one of our major concerns, and in a way this works as a vicious circle, because the social stigma prevents people from wanting to test themselves and learning whether they have been infected, and therefore, they could infect others. They do not seek treatment and do not get tested, with all the negative effects. This is more worrying among young people, and this is our main concern and target.
Our studies and polls show that, among young people, there really is a lack of knowledge – one could say there is ignorance when it comes to these health threats. So it is important to show to them in a balanced way, in a way that presents information and on the one hand does not create panic but on the other hand does not lead to complacency, that it is a serious disease; there is no cure for it, but they can protect themselves – and they can be shown how to do that – and at the same time that they should not be afraid of fellow citizens who have the infection, who have the disease.
We have seen two extremes from the Eurobarometer. Some young people think that there is nothing to worry about: you take some antibiotics and it goes away. On the other hand, just by touching infected people or even sharing a glass with them or through a kiss one can catch the disease. So we see two extreme views regarding this health threat, and neither deals effectively with our aim, which is to control the spread and further infections.
World AIDS Day is an important day and gives us an opportunity to discuss and raise awareness; but we should not limit ourselves to this one day, and that is why I am happy that, within the European Union at least, we will be discussing these issues continuously. But when it comes to young people, we have to remind ourselves that we had very active, very effective, very aggressive campaigns in the 1980s which managed to reach the goal of raising awareness, but then we stopped and we forgot that a young generation, a new generation of young people became sexually active after the end of those campaigns. In fact, some of them were born just before the end of those campaigns, and they did not benefit from those awareness-raising initiatives that were taking place then, and that is why we have the results I have just mentioned. We know that, through simple messages, simple methods, role models, celebrities, opinion leaders, giving a good example and explaining the situation, we can achieve the awareness that we would like to achieve.
This year, our initiative was to propose to the health ministers of the European Union that we would all go simultaneously into schools and discuss these problems with young people on World AIDS day, to see what they know, tell them what we know, and have an exchange of views. We had a positive response: more than half the Member State Ministers followed that approach.
We went into schools – I also went – and it was an eye-opener: the debates and discussions with young people, understanding, first of all, what they know or do not know about this disease, and also some practical problems. They know, for example, that the use of condoms is the best protection, but at the same time, how can they get them? They are too embarrassed or they are worried or they are shy. So we see some practical effects that we never thought were problems, never thought we would have to face in Europe. But they are still there.
Also, because we want to talk to young people in language that they understand, the Commission this year took the initiative of producing a new TV spot addressing the prevention of HIV transmission. This was done through a competition among young people, and the best one chosen, the winning entry, was by a Polish student. We produced that, and it was broadcast by several TV channels and was also used in the school visits. This is an important strategy which we must follow: we have to talk to young people in the language they understand."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples