Germany to Increase Support of AIDS Fight

In 1998, Germany spent €20 million ($25.8 million) annually in the global fight against AIDS. Today, that amount has risen to €300 million annually and will be increased, according to Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, since checking the spread of the epidemic is a priority of Germany's development ministry.

Wieczorek-Zeul, speaking to reporters in Berlin on Wednesday, said the German government was committed to the goal set by the international community to stop the rise in HIV/AIDS cases by 2015.

Statistics from 2003 show that worldwide some 38 million people are have HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS. More then 25 million of them live in sub-Saharan Africa. The area is fast becoming a region of orphans -- 12 million children there have lost one or both of their parents.

Besides Africa, eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union have become HIV/AIDS hotspots, with groups lower on the socioeconomic ladder being primarily effected, especially women and children.

The number of new cases continues to rise, five million were reported last year alone.

Hopeful signs

Germany is active in the anti-AIDS fight in 50 countries and after the USA and the UK, is the third largest contributor of funds aimed at addressing the epidemic.

While the sheer number of cases and continual rise in new infections can seem overwhelming, Wieczorek-Zeul said there have been positive trends in several countries in recent years that are encouraging. She named the reduction of infection rates in Uganda and Thailand, as well as efforts in treatment and prevention in Brazil.

"With treatment, lives are being prolonged so that children have their parents with them for longer and HIV-positive people can lead longer, fuller lives," she said.

Prevention is key

The development minister was very direct in addressing the important of realistic preventive efforts to stop the spread of the disease, particularly when it came to women. The only way to protect oneself and sexual partners against HIV/AIDS is through the use of condoms, she said.

"The idea, that one hears talked about in several countries, that prevention is only achieved through 'abstinence and faithfulness' is surely a good and pious wish, but it does not address the reality of many people's lives," she said.

She gave the example of a woman who herself might be faithful, but whose husband has several sexual partners. In this case this woman's faithfulness, she said, does little to protect her from infection. The only sure way to do that, she added, is with a condom.

Germany supports the distribution of low-cost condoms in 20 countries and increasingly, the development ministry is working on initiatives that distribute free medication or set up partnerships between pharmaceutical companies and companies in developing countries to produce cheaper AIDS drugs.

Brazil as model

Wieczorek-Zeul had words of praise for Brazil's AIDS policies and programs, which she said had drastically reduced the infection rate there. Since 1995, the country has run a comprehensive therapy and treatment program that provides medicines to people living with AIDS free of charge.

Additional campaigns by the government and NGO's aimed at education and prevention have over the long term resulted in a falling infection rate. Currently in Brazil the rate is 0.7 percent, compared to 38 percent in Botswana.

"It shows us that this kind of targeted, comprehensive approach is successful," she said.

Brazil's success could prove a model for neighboring countries in South and Central America, she added.

But therapy and prevention efforts are not the only weapons in the fight against AIDS in the developing world. The development minister called for additional support for education, poverty eradication and economic revitalization that she said are crucial in an effective strategy aimed at limiting the spread of the disease.