Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-12-12-Speech-3-329"
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"en.20071212.30.3-329"2
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"Mr President, there is so much to be done. Let me start with what the Commissioner really highlighted in his speech, which is the effect on children, because one of the campaigns that is running this year, of course, is Stop Aids in Children. We know that every minute of every day a child is born with HIV; we know that 2.3 million children are living in our world with HIV; that only one in 10 who needs anti-retroviral treatment receives it; in the absence of treatment we know that an estimated one third of infants die in their first year and half die by their second birthday; we know that 15.2 million children under the age of 18 have lost one or both parents to AIDS; and we know that by 2010, that magical year, more than 20 million children will have been orphaned by AIDS.
That is the children's story, that is the challenge regarding children, but of course it is an adult story as well. We know the numbers that we have in our various countries for people being diagnosed, for people living with HIV: all on the up, and the frightening statistic that one in three people do not know they are infected.
That is the challenge, but there are specific challenges I think we should highlight this year, and the Commissioner has hinted at some of them. The level of basic knowledge has actually been going down in the last five years: the public is less aware than it was. Myths and misunderstandings have been growing. One in five people do not know that HIV can be transmitted through sex without a condom. Fewer than half of all sexually active people always use a condom with a new sexual partner.
We know that the number of people diagnosed has trebled since 1997; we know that risk-taking sexual behaviour is on the increase; we know that a quarter of all HIV-related deaths are due to late diagnosis, and a third are preventable. And, specifically, we know that failed asylum seekers living with HIV are too often not eligible for free HIV treatment and so cannot afford lifesaving care, and can go on and infect others. We also know that the rate of HIV among male prisoners is 15 times higher than among the general population.
All those things we know, along with the knowledge we have of the hopeful signs, of research. Recently in Rwanda I saw for myself the research, the ongoing clinical trials and the need for trials in Africa for vaccines for Africans.
But all these things need that urgency, and 2010 is the target year; 2010 is nearly with us. 2010, Commissioner: you and I come to the end of our term of office. I want us not to hide behind that fact and leave it to our successors. I want us to say, in 2009, when you and I may be leaving office, at least we have fulfilled this promise."@en1
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