Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 234: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the further initiatives he proposes to take at EU or UN level to address HIV/AIDS and other health issues on the African continent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4186/08]

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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As outlined in the White Paper on Irish Aid, the Government's commitment to tackling HIV and AIDS and other diseases of poverty will remain a top priority for our aid programme. 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.

Following the commitment made by the Taoiseach in his speech to the United Nations in 2005, funding for HIV and AIDS and other communicable diseases is now reaching over €100 million per year. This is an enormous achievement. Ireland now leads the way within the European Union in terms of the proportion of its overseas development assistance allocated to HIV and other diseases of poverty.

Our assistance is directed at programmes at country, regional and international levels and is ensuring that increasing numbers of people are accessing quality HIV and AIDS and other health services. The target countries for most of Ireland's bilateral assistance — Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Lesotho, Zambia and Malawi — continue to bear the highest disease burden in the world. Our approach is saving lives.

The United Nations and the European Union play a critical role in addressing the main diseases of poverty, including HIV and AIDS through setting global policy, guidance on best practice, providing specialist technical assistance and funding specific interventions aimed at tackling these diseases. We will continue to fund and work closely with a range of UN Funds and Programmes as well as the European Commission and Member States to advocate for a sustained and resourced global response to health and HIV and AIDS and strengthened leadership at all levels.

This year Ireland assumes a leadership role in steering UN reform. The theme 'Delivering as One' provides the opportunity to build a more effective inter-UN agency response to HIV and AIDS. Ireland will work closely with the Joint UN Programme on AIDS, UNAIDS, in this regard. Sitting on the board of UNAIDS this year provides Ireland with the opportunity not only to advocate for increased effectiveness and efficiency within the UN system, but also to advance some of its key priorities including the need for a stronger focus on children and women, and ensuring that health and HIV and AIDS are addressed in the context of humanitarian and emergency situations.

In June of this year the United Nations General Assembly will debate progress being made to achieve Universal Access to comprehensive HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. Ireland has already submitted its report on how it is addressing this global pandemic and will send a high level delegation to advocate for increased political commitment, additional resources and consensus on addressing key obstacles to better health for those most vulnerable and marginalised.

Ireland has prioritised the needs of children in its work on HIV and AIDS. It is the only country to target 20% of its increased funding to interventions that will benefit children. In recognition of Ireland's leadership in this area, it has been requested to host the fourth Global Partners Forum on Children affected by HIV and AIDS. Working in cooperation with UNICEF and scheduled for October, this forum will bring together high level decision makers from both developed and developing countries to debate the best approaches to ensuring the protection of children living in a world with HIV and AIDS.

Ireland's leadership on HIV and AIDS was recognised last year during the visit of the Executive Director of UNAIDS to Dublin. He said that Ireland has taken on the kind of leadership role that will help bring us closer to a world without AIDS. This year Ireland will continue to work with the international community and its programme countries in advocating for a sustained and resourced global response to HIV and AIDS and other communicable diseases, strengthened leadership at all levels, and improved coordination of resources for effective disease prevention and control.