EU envoy to fight AIDS would unite fragmented Commission policy

By David Cronin

Date: 30/09/04

THE appointment of an EU envoy to coordinate the fight against AIDS will be recommended in the coming weeks.

Belgium, which recently nominated diplomat Françoise Gustin as its national AIDS ambassador, is leading calls for a single 'Mr' or 'Mrs AIDS' to promote the Union's efforts against the disease.

The Development Minister Armand De Decker plans to raise this matter at a 27 October meeting of his EU counterparts in Maastricht. He believes that the Union's approach to AIDS has been too fragmented until now, with not enough cooperation between the European Commission's departments of health and development. A special representative would improve coordination of the Union's AIDS efforts, he reckons.

"Ideally it should be a Mrs AIDS," said a senior Belgian civil servant. "At least in Africa, this has been very much a gender problem.

"What we are saying is that there needs to be more resources for AIDS programmes. We also want to have a common strategy. Within the European Commission, there are too many different approaches due to the fact that responsibility for AIDS has been split between too many different divisions."

To date, four EU member states have appointed AIDS ambassadors - France, Belgium, Sweden and the Netherlands. However, a Dutch diplomat said his government, the current holder of the EU's rotating presidency, had no intention at this stage of seeking an EU envoy for AIDS.

At a meeting in the European Parliament last month, the Dutch Development Minister Agnes Van Ardennes expressed doubt as to what benefits an EU envoy would bring to anti-AIDS efforts. She suggested instead that a member of the Commission should act in a more of a coordinating role than happens now.

The Swedish Liberal MEP Anders Wijkman is spearheading a campaign to have the EU budget line for fighting AIDS increased from €85 million to €105m. "Just as is the case with climate change, the EU could provide leadership here," he said. "It is in a good position to take on a global problem like AIDS, because we need to pool resources and coordinate activities. The idea of a special representative is a very good suggestion."

Last year, three million people perished of AIDS, 75% of them in sub-Saharan Africa, while there were an estimated five million new HIV infections.

"AIDS is devastating large communities in Africa," said Simon Stocker from Eurostep, an umbrella group for relief agencies including Oxfam and ActionAid.

"It has enormous implications for development possibilities. We are also seeing that devastation in progress in other countries - like India and China. So having someone fighting their corner on the AIDS issue could well be worthwhile."

Harald Sprenger, from the Stop AIDS Alliance, agreed that the idea of an EU envoy had merits. "But what we would fear is that if you have one person, without sufficient back-up, then people who normally work on HIV/AIDS might feel that the responsibility has been given to someone else."

Article reports on a Belgium-led call for a more coherent Commission policy in the fight against AIDS, including the appointment of an EU envoy with coordination tasks.