On May 30/31, DSW, EPF and DSW’s Parliamentary Advisory Committee welcomed around 130 participants in the German Parliament (Bundestag) to discuss the important topic of "Economic Rewards of Investing in HIV/AIDS Prevention and Health".

Amongst them were parliamentarians from Africa, European and G8 countries, who gave recommendations for the upcoming gathering of heads of states next week. Recommendations in form of a parliamentary appeal, (please find attached), will be delivered to the German Chancellor, Dr. Angela Merkel by tomorrow. The parliamentarians commit themselves to provide the political leadership on a national, European and international level to fight the pandemic and call for the G8 heads of state to join efforts.

The participants agreed that the most cost-effective way of halting and reversing the trend of the disease is to focus on HIV prevention through the synergies in linking sexual and reproductive health services an HIV/AIDS programs. "People will keep on dying if programs are based on the abstinence only theory. Instead they need to be based on evidence. All we need, are 150 million Euro annually to meet the demand for condoms", says Anne van Lancker, President of the Working Group on Reproductive Health, HIV/AIDS and Development in the European Parliament.

A prominent part of the discussions was about the pandemic being increasingly young and female.

German MP Sibylle Pfeiffer, head of DSW’s Parliamentary Advisory Council, stated that educating young girls is key in fighting the epidemic and its feminization. Young girls between 15 and 24 are up to 10 times more likely to be infected with the HI virus than their male counterparts.

On the eve of the G8 summit with HIV/AIDS and Africa being high on the agenda, Dr. Joerg Maas, executive director of DSW, called on the G8 countries to live up to their promises of the Gleneagles and Moscow meetings: Doubling development assistance for Africa! Dr. Maas stated that an additional 9 billion Euro are necessary in 2007 for HIV prevention and treatment of all infected people in need. Furthermore, an additional 22 billion Euro are required annually to reach the goal of universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010. But the participants were also clear about the synergies that can be generated by better coordination and harmonization in the use of resources currently available.

Agenda
Report
Parliamentary Appeal: English/French