01/12/2004

Britain will lead G8 campaign against Aids

The Prime Minister has pledged that Africa and Aids will be a top priority for world economies under Britain's presidency of G8.

Speaking today to BBC Radio Five Live in an interview to mark world Aids Day, Tony Blair said that Britain was morally bound to tackle the situation in Africa.

Currently one in six children in Africa dies from an Aids related illness.

"Strong local leadership, financial support and health education programmes are the key to fighting the disease," he said. "I think we have got to deal with the reality of the situation, and all the evidence is that where you get a combination of investment into Aids, the drugs, the programmes and you get the right leadership then it works."

Mr Blair recognised that people increasingly view the siutation in Africa as hopeless, but stressed that progress can be made and there are success stories. He added that effective leadership both at local and international level to halt the spread of Aids diseases is vital and that many deaths could be prevented.

Chancellor Gordon Brown is expected to announce details later today of Britain's plans to fund research and development into Aids vaccines. He will argue that if vaccines are made more readily available, an extra two million lives could be saved.

Statistics show that there are now 53,000 adults living with HIV/AIDS in the UK, over a quarter of whom (14,300) remain unaware of their infection. In addition, there were 6,606 new infections diagnosed in the UK during 2003, 58% (3801) of these were amongst heterosexuals, with gay and bisexual men accounting for 26% (1,735).

(mmcg/sp)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

01 December 2011
World Aids Day Acknowledges 86,000 UK Sufferers
Today is World Aids Day and it is 30 years this month since the first diagnosis of the disease in the UK.
24 November 2003
Agency issues warning over UK's rising HIV population
The number of people who acquire their HIV infection in the UK is increasing, according to a report published by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) to mark World AIDS Day. In addition there has been almost a 20% increase in the number of people living with HIV in the UK, up from 41,700 in 2001 to 49,500 in 2002.
30 June 2014
Teen Scout Dies On Trip To Italy
A 14-year-old teenager from the Pegasus Explorer Scout Unit has died in a swimming accident at the Lillaz Falls, in the Gran Paradiso National Park of the Italian Alps on Sunday. The incident happened at about 1,800m above sea level while the scouts were jumping into the water, where inspectors were waiting for them during one of their activities.
14 November 2005
Prisons ‘failing’ on HIV and hepatitis C
Prisons are failing to halt the spread of HIV and hepatitis C, a joint report by two charities has claimed. The report, conducted by the Prison Reform Trust and the National AIDS Trust, criticised prison healthcare as “inconsistent and often sub-standard”. The survey found that over half of prisons have no sexual health policy in place.
01 December 2003
Government doubles funding to UN Aids programme
The government has pledged to double its funding to the United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) to £6 million for 2004, it has been announced today. There are 60 million people infected with HIV/AIDS across the world – 20 million have already died leaving 14 million children without a parent and further 3 million sufferers will die this year.