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Working Document
Declaration of the ACP-EC Council of Ministers on HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis

Date of release : 25-06-2006

Policy area : General Affairs and External Relations

Event : 30th session of the EU-ACP Council of Ministers


RECALLING the objectives set out in the United Nations (UN) 2000 Millennium Declaration and RECONFIRMING in particular the commitments to have, by the year 2015, halted and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, the scourge of malaria and other major diseases that afflict humanity, and to provide special assistance to children orphaned by HIV/AIDS;

RECALLING also the Declaration of Commitments adopted by the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on HIV/AIDS on 27 June 2001, signalling the emergence of a response needed to be successful in the fight against HIV/AIDS;

REAFFIRMING the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994) and key actions for the further implementation of the Programme of Action adopted by the twenty-first UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) in July 1999;

REAFFIRMING also the Beijing Platform for Action (1995) and further actions and initiatives to implement the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action adopted at the twenty-third UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) in June 2000;

REAFFIRMING the Dublin Declaration on Partnership to fight HIV/AIDS in Europe and Central Asia, adopted at the Conference “Breaking the Barriers – Partnership to fight HIV/AIDS in Europe and Central Asia�? (Dublin, 23-24 February 2004) and the Vilnius Declaration on Measures to Strengthen Responses to HIV/AIDS in the European Union and in Neighbouring Countries, adopted at the International Inter-ministerial Meeting on Combating HIV/AIDS (Vilnius, 16-17 September 2004);

RECALLING the pledge made by the meeting of African Heads of State meeting in Abuja in 2001 to set a target of allocating at least 15% of the annual budget to the health sector and to put an appropriate and adequate portion of this amount at the disposal of the National Commissions/Councils for the fight against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and other related infectious diseases;

RECALLING the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) resolution on poverty-related diseases and reproductive health in ACP States in the context of the 9th EDF adopted at its 7th session held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 16 to 19 February 2004;

WELCOMING the Communication from the Commission to the EU Council and the European Parliament on a Coherent European Policy Framework for External Action to Confront HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis in all partner countries  and ACKNOWLEDING the Council Conclusions on the Policy Framework of 23 November 2004,  and the European Council Conclusions of December 2004  and June 2005;

WELCOMING the Declaration on World AIDS Day 2004 by the ACP Council of Ministers at its 80th Session, held in Brussels during the period 29 November to 2 December 2004;

WELCOMING also the discussion on HIV/AIDS held at the 29th Session of the ACP-EC Council of Ministers held in Gaborone, Botswana, on 6 and 7 May 2004.

RECOGNISING that both HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive ill-health are driven by many common root causes, including gender inequality, poverty and social marginalization of the most vulnerable populations;

ACKNOWLEDGING the undermining effects of HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB on individuals, communities, economies and states, and the detrimental impact of these diseases on decades of development efforts, particularly on the eradication of poverty;

RECOGNISING that HIV/AIDS affects girls and women disproportionately and adds to a rapidly growing number of orphans and vulnerable children; and WELCOMING the Framework for the Protection, Care and Support of Orphans and Vulnerable Children Living in a World with HIV/AIDS, adopted in July 2004 by several UN organisations, bilateral donors and NGOs, as a useful reference for addressing the needs of such children;

WELCOMING the substantial efforts made by several countries in designing, implementing and monitoring country strategies to confront the three diseases;

RECOGNISING that confronting HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB as well as achieving the Millennium Development Goals require additional efforts and a substantial increase of predictable resources, including appropriate  and adequate European Development Fund (EDF) funding at country and regional levels;

WELCOMING the Three Ones principle for the response to HIV/AIDS with its emphasis on one action framework, one co-ordinating authority and one monitoring and evaluation system and RECOGNISING the need for further harmonisation around country-led strategies to confront the three diseases;

THE ACP-EC COUNCIL OF MINISTERS, Hereby

1. RECOGNISES that leadership at country level is essential and INVITES ACP governments, with the participation of Non-State Actors, including the private sector, people who are living with or are affected by the three diseases, and international partners, to design, implement and monitor effective country strategies to confront the three diseases;

2. UNDERLINES that a multisectoral approach, based on an appropriate and comprehensive and integrated policy that includes prevention, treatment, care and impact mitigation, is needed to address these diseases and that health sector strategies must ensure the provision of the full range of essential health services; and RECOGNISES that such strategies need to ensure access to, and use of effective tools such as condoms, female as well as male, long-lasting insecticide treated bednets and anti-retroviral treatment (ARV);

3. RECOGNISES that access to treatment requires an integrated approach, including capacity building of the health systems, access to drugs, and psycho-social follow-up for people on treatment; and STRESSES the need for such an integrated approach in order to stop the toll of HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB on millions of infected people and the societies they live in;

4. RECOGNISES the need for such strategies to promote gender equality, human rights (including children’s rights, women’s rights and sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR)), to protect and address the needs of children, youth, including orphans and other vulnerable groups, particularly those in conflict situations, to ensure access to food and basic social services, to promote human security, to overcome stigma and discrimination;

5. EMPHASISES the urgent need to link the fight against HIV/AIDS with support for reproductive and sexual health and rights, in particular to ensure strong political commitment and funding for sexual and reproductive health information, services and research, extend treatment and care, and ensure reproductive choices to people affected by HIV/AIDS, in accordance with the ICPD Plan of Action; and in this regards RECOGNISES also that the largest generation of adolescents ever in history is now entering sexual and reproductive life and that their access to sexual and reproductive health information, education, services and commodities, including condoms, is essential in achieving the goals set in Cairo 10 years ago, as well as the fight against HIV/AIDS;

6. CALLS on ACP countries, in cooperation with international partners, to ensure budget allocations to health, in line with the Abuja commitment made by African Heads of State, to provide equitable and free access to essential health services, including, voluntary counselling and testing, treatment and care to confront the three diseases; and RECOGNISING in this regard the need to  ensure that sexual and reproductive health is an essential component of HIV and AIDS prevention and that AIDS prevention and SRHR activities are integrated where appropriate to secure more relevant and cost effective programmes with greater impact, i.e. through increased capacity building;

7. CALLS on the EU to step up its efforts to confront HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB, using all relevant policies and instruments, through action at country, regional and global level, including through reinforced cooperation and joint actions undertaken by the EC and by EU Member States;

8. WELCOMES the new European Programme for Action to Confront HIV/AIDS, Malaria and TB , and URGES the EU and partner countries to ensure adequate and predictable funding for the actions contained in the Programme for Action;

9. CALLS on the EU, in partnership with the private sector, to increase funding for the research and development of new tools and interventions to confront HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB, including effective and affordable vaccines and microbicides; and INVITES the ACP Group and the EU to strengthen their research cooperation in particular the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), and sharing of information and good practices, with a view to developing and introducing such tools and interventions;

10. STRESSES the need for all partners to secure increased, adequate and predictable financing for HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB interventions; URGES the EU and its Member States to continue to demonstrate commitment and leadership in its support for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and to help ensure full financing of the Global Fund by actively engaging in the ongoing 2005 replenishment process;

11. UNDERLINES the importance of access to affordable and safe pharmaceutical products and, therefore, INVITES the EU to ensure a rapid and effective implementation of the WTO Decision on the Implementation of Paragraph 6 of the Declaration of the TRIPs Agreement and Public Health of August 2003,  ENCOURAGES the WHO to accelerate the implementation of the prequalification project and to allocate adequate resources to this project, and further URGES all relevant partners, including the private sector, to ensure the development of affordable paediatric formulations, fixed-dose combinations and second-line treatment to confront these diseases;

12. CALLS on ACP countries and the EU to address jointly – at local, country, regional and international level – the urgent human resource crisis in terms of the lack of health providers in many ACP countries and URGES the ACP Group and the EU to prevent further brain drain by promoting and strengthening the incentives for qualified people to stay or return to ACP countries and by investing more in capacity building, development of necessary facilities and incentives,  prevention of unethical recruitment practices and training of paramedics and other health workers to reduce migration; and CALLS on ACP countries to institute and promote policy frameworks ensuring the availability of health care workers in rural and remote areas to help directly their local communities;

13. CALLS on UN organisations, including WHO, UNAIDS, UNFPA and UNICEF, Global initiatives, including Roll-back Malaria, Stop TB and 3-by-5, and key global partnerships including international Public-private partnerships (PPPs) to continue their efforts to support countries in confronting HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB and to develop new effective and affordable tools and interventions through research and development, and INVITES the EU to continue to support these organisations and initiatives through a partnership approach.


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This page was last modified on : 25-06-2005

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