Delegations will find attached the text of the Joint Declaration by the Council and the Commission on the proposal for a global health fund as adopted by the Council (Development) on 31 May 2001.

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The Council and the Commission note with concern the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases on human suffering and on economic and social development, and hence also on poverty reduction efforts. The proposal by the UN Secretary General to establish a global HIV/AIDS and Health Fund is therefore fully welcomed. The Commission and Member States will explore how best to develop this initiative.

The Council and Commission believe that the fund should tackle the three major communicable diseases: HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. It is emphasised that contributions to the fund should be additional to existing resources. Equally important is burden sharing between OECD countries and between the public and private sectors. The governance of the Fund should be light and should ensure full ownership by all stakeholders and accountability. Finance should be used to support implementation of partner-countries’ own health strategies and rely on efficient existing channels where at all possible to decrease transaction costs. Activities supported by the fund must be focused on the delivery of health outcomes, and should therefore include prevention and access to care and treatment, as well as capacity-strengthening actions.

Recalling the recent Council Resolution on a programme for action on accelerated action on HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in the context of poverty reduction, the necessity of lower prices of medicines for the poorest is emphasised. Agreement on a global tiered pricing system will be important for the successful operation of the proposed Fund. The Commission and the Member States are committed to contribute constructively in the further preparation of the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on HIV/AIDS to secure its successful outcome.

Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director–General of the WHO, addressed the Ministers on the severity of HIV/AIDS as a development issue.

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