Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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Question 90: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the steps he is taking to promote access to medicine in the Third World; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4198/07]

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Improving access to medicine is one of the critical challenges to improving health in the developing world. Many poor people do not have access to essential medicines due to a range of factors, including lack of drugs at health facilities, lack of trained staff to provide treatment and the high cost of medicine to poor people. Lack of access to medicine causes the deaths of many people each year in developing countries, particularly from HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and infectious diseases in children. Access to medicine needs to be improved along with complementary measures for prevention and care.

The Government's commitment to health and tackling HIV/AIDS and communicable diseases is set out in the White Paper on Irish Aid. We are committed to developing programmes that address the key causes of illness and ill health among the poorest and most vulnerable people and to strengthening health systems in the poorest countries. Providing access to essential medicines is a key part of this response. The greatest need in terms of medicine is for the treatment of communicable diseases, and that is why the Government has committed €100 million annually to tackling HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases.

One of the challenges in access to medicine is that drugs widely used in developing countries have become less effective. TB causes two million deaths a year, mainly in poor countries, yet there has been no major new TB drug developed for over 30 years. The Government is making a substantial investment in research and development for new drugs for TB and malaria. In 2006, Irish Aid committed €9 million over three years both to the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development and the Medicine for Malaria Venture. These organisations offer the prospect of creating access to new and more effective drugs to developing countries within the next few years. As outlined in the White Paper on Irish Aid, the issue of health will remain a top priority for our aid programme.