Tories to deliver on AIDS pledge
Minister expected to announce
$100M to help global fight
Nov. 30, 2006.
TANYA TALAGA AND JOSEPH HALL
The Harper government has picked World AIDS Day tomorrow to finally fulfill its pledge
to provide millions in funding to fight the disease, the Star has learned.
Saying it sends a bad message to the world about Canada's commitment to fighting the disease,
officials hoped Harper would yet change his mind at the 11th hour.
International Co-operation Minister Josée Verner, is expected to pledge $50 million to the
World Health Organization, $20 million for 2006-07 and another $30 million for 2007-08, a source said.
It would fulfill a commitment made in August during the International AIDS Conference in Toronto
after an expected funding announcement was derailed at the last minute because the climate had become "too politicized."
Reached in London yesterday on his way to Ireland for World AIDS Day, Stephen Lewis applauded Canada's
decision.
"It's an excellent contribution and desperately needed. It confirms Canada's position as the most
significant donor to the WHO's effort to promote treatment throughout Africa in particular," said Lewis, the United
Nations Envoy HIV/AIDS in Africa.
Lewis met with Canadian International Development Agency officials at the International AIDS Conference
on Aug. 14, and was told the federal government would be making a substantial monetary announcement.
He was astounded when at the last minute the press conference was called off. At the time, the Health
Minister Tony Clement complained that too much of the AIDS conference had been hijacked by activists interested in
grandstanding..
Yesterday, Clement's office remained tight-lipped about the funding. "Our government remains committed
to the global fight against AIDS and there will be an announcement in the very near future," said Erik Waddell, Clement's
press secretary.
The previous Liberal government contributed $100 million to WHO to kick-start the "3 by 5" program,
intended to bring life-prolonging antiretroviral drugs to 3 million people by 2005. While the target wasn't met, more
than 1 million people now have access to drugs.
"But $50 million is really important. WHO uses it to send technical advisors to countries to make sure
they can get their treatment in place and do the practical things that must be done to deliver treatment," Lewis said.
He hopes funds are still coming for other groups. The International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM),
the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and WHO are all
waiting for Canadian funding, according to Lewis.
Pam Norick, external relations chief with the Washington-based IPM, said they have had conversations
with the Harper government that indicated "all news is going to be good news" regarding a funding injection, "but the deal's
not cooked until the deal is cooked."
On the 25th anniversary of the birth of AIDS, new numbers from the United Nations and WHO show the disease
continues to devastate the developing world.
It's estimated 39.5 million people are living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus
that causes AIDS, with 4.3 million new infections this year alone. Of those new infections, 2.8 million occurred in
sub-Saharan Africa. Since the start of the pandemic, 25 million people have died.
"We are obviously still losing the battle," said Dr. Mark Wainberg, director of the McGill University
AIDS Centre in Montreal. He said of those nearly 4 million new infections this year, only 1.5 million people are getting
access to treatment. "We have way, way more people getting infected every year than are able to access the drugs. That
doesn't sound like progress to me."
There is no question the developing world is looking to countries like Canada to come through and donate,
said Wainberg who was also co-chair of the Toronto AIDS meeting. "Hopefully our government regardless of political stripes
or colours will feel Canada does have a role to play and must respond to this international public health crisis by being
generous," he said.
Nationally, AIDS infection rates continue to rise. There are about 58,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in
Canada.
Over half of all people in Canada living with HIV are men who have sex with men. And the infection rate
of aboriginal people is nearly three times higher than for other Canadians.
Against that backdrop, Canadian HIV/AIDS groups fear the Harper government will pull back from programs
here.
A spokesperson for one of the county's top AIDS groups says there is concern in his community that a Tory
review of Canada's strategy on the disease may lead to an Americanization of federally funded programs here.
The Bush administration has been accused of caving in to the religious right in that country on
AIDS-related issues through such things as opposition to condom use programs and a stress on abstinence initiatives.
Richard Elliott, deputy director of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, says Tory moves to gut the
Status of Women Canada group, back down on Indian treaty agreements and threaten funding of a safe needle injection site
in Vancouver, point to a socially conservative agenda that could influence their AIDS policy. "Red flags have gone up given
how they've handled a number of other things that are relevant," he said.
Toronto Star -
"Reproduced with permission - Torstar Syndication Services"
Toronto Star
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