Tories deliver on AIDS pledge
Minister expected to announce $50M to help global fight
Nov. 30, 2006. 01:00 AM
TANYA TALAGA AND JOSEPH HALL
HEALTH REPORTERS

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.
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.