Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 93: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the reported ongoing failure to stem the spread of the HIV and AIDS pandemic in South Africa; the help which Ireland offers on the issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26849/05]

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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South Africa is one of the most highly affected countries in the world with regard to HIV and AIDS and prevalence rates stand at 21.5% of the adult population. At the end of 2003, with an estimated 5.3 million people living with HIV and AIDS, South Africa had the largest number of individuals living with the virus in a single country. Women contract the virus at a much earlier age than their male counterparts and constitute more than 50% of those infected.

The Government of South Africa adopted a national comprehensive HIV-AIDS care, management and treatment plan in August 2003. This plan set ambitious targets, including a target of 53,000 people on treatment by the end of March 2005. By the end of 2004, this figure was surpassed, with 20,000 people on treatment at 50 public sector facilities and an estimated 45,000 in the private sector. Uptake of voluntary counselling and testing services has more than doubled since the launch of the programme.

It is widely acknowledged that given the scale of the problem in South Africa, the key challenge for the HIV-AIDS programme and the comprehensive plan is to accelerate the pace of implementation. Lack of human resource capacity in most provinces has been a severe constraint. The slow pace of implementation has been a source of tension between the Government and civil society.

Ireland has provided funding assistance to the struggle against HIV-AIDS in South Africa since 1995. Our funding for the period 2004 to 2006 will be more than €6 million and is directed at preventing the spread of HIV and reducing its impact. The programme is implemented by the South African Government and civil society organisations. The programme spans a number of different activities including behaviour change programmes for young people; community outreach programmes to build skills of marginalised young men and women; provision of home-based care for those terminally ill patients with AIDS; training of health workers in AIDS treatment and care; support for children orphaned by AIDS and support to provincial and district health offices for the delivery of HIV services.

We will continue to work with the Government of South Africa and civil society partners to ensure a co-ordinated, accelerated and more focused response to the HIV-AIDS pandemic which prioritises prevention, particularly among young men and women and addresses the underlying causes of the spread of the pandemic, which are poverty, gender inequality and social exclusion.