Letter to G8 Development Ministers

To download letters sent to G8-country development ministers from the UK and Italy, please click on the country names.

Development Minister Ms Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul,

Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development

Division 311; Education, Health, Population Policy

March 23rd 2007

Dear Minister,

At the G8 Heads of Government Summit in July 2005, G8 leaders promised to, “develop and implement a package for HIV prevention, treatment and care, with the aim of as close as possible to universal access to treatment for all those who need it by 2010.”

This promise was made global at the UN World Summit in September 2005 and in June 2006 all UN member states endorsed a commitment to, “universal access to comprehensive prevention programmes, treatment, care and support by

2010”. This target and the efforts it has galvanised have given hope to millions of people living with HIV around the world. Yet progress is unacceptably slow. 1.6 million people have access to HIV treatment in developing countries – just a quarter of those who need it. At the same time, in many countries even basic HIV prevention is lacking and 14,000 people are infected with the virus each day.

As a G8 wide coalition of NGOs working on HIV and AIDS, we are concerned that the universal access targets set in 2005 will fail unless sufficient funding is made available and continues to be sustainable and predictable. UNAIDS estimates that by 2008, more than €17 billion will be needed annually to fund a comprehensive response to HIV and AIDS in developing countries. This year alone there is a funding gap of €6 billion. As a growing number of developing countries are producing national AIDS plans, the responsibility now lies with donors to prove their commitment by providing adequate funds.

Funding the comprehensive response to HIV and AIDS include a commitment to strategies that will enable health systems and workers to effectively and equitably deliver comprehensive services. There is a need to support the development of strategies to scale-up health systems and services to meet universal access and other health goals, to ensure sufficient and sustainable long-term financing for these strategies as mentioned previously, and to ensure that fiscal and monetary policies are consistent with increased domestic and international investments needed to implement these strategies. Along side this is the need to address the health worker shortage by investing in the development and full implementation of comprehensive health workforce strategies that meet national health worker requirements on ambitious yet achievable timelines that link public services and the community.

In addition the challenge of Ensuring Affordable Medicines needs to be addressed and we believe that there are a number of aspects that should be adopted. The first is toincrease access to generic medicines by removing trade barriers that block access to life saving drugs. Secondly by supporting the collective management of intellectual property rights through patent pools for essential medicines. Thirdly by supporting the WHO's investigation on IP legislation and R&D initiatives and finally stimulate R&D to develop paediatric treatment and diagnostic tools.

In 2007 the G8 must bridge the existing gap and commit to a comprehensive funding plan to achieve the 2010 universal access targets including long term financing commitments to the GFATM.

Over 40 countries have now developed ambitious national plans to expand access to HIV treatment, prevention and care. While 26 of them are fully costed, their success relies upon a marked increase in donor support. Zambia for example requires more than €220 million in aid to meet its targets. Sierra Leone needs an extra €59 million, assuming donors meet existing financial commitments and Lesotho requires €13.2 million. Predictable financing would encourage countries still formulating their AIDS strategies to be ambitious, and would enable those who have already done so to begin scaling up health infrastructure and local capacity accordingly.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has already agreed to focus on Africa during the forthcoming German Presidency of the G8, in particular HIV and AIDS. We welcome Chancellor Merkel’s announcement, but hope that this enthusiasm will ensure concrete steps to fulfil existing pledges, rather than simply lead to more new initiatives

As Development Ministers of the G8 countries, you can shape the outcomes of this year’s G8 summit when you meet later this month. We urge you to include in your final communiqué a call for G8 leaders to resolve this financial crisis by agreeing a funding plan.

More broadly, we hope that in the run up to the Heiligendamm Summit all G8 Development Ministers will work closely with Heads of State, Sherpas and government departments to ensure that 2007 heralds real and lasting outcomes for the universal access targets.

The UNGASS meeting last May showed that the movement for universal access represents the concerns of civil society across the globe. Now the G8, like developing countries, must be accountable for the promises they have made. Your endorsement of our call for G8 leaders to agree a funding plan would fulfil the promises made at Gleneagles in 2005, and could mean the difference between life and death for millions of people living with HIV across the developing world.

We look forward to seeing what action you will take.

Yours sincerely

Action against AIDS Germany (Germany)

Act Up-Paris (France)

ActionAid International

Africa Action (USA)

American Public Health Association's (APHA) (USA)

European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG) (Belgium)

Global AIDS Alliance International

HIV/AIDS Task Force, Africa Forum (Japan)

Interagency Coalition on AIDS andDevelopment (ICAD) (Canada)

Intersect Worldwide (USA)

Japan AIDS and Society Association (Japan)

MEDECINS DU MONDE JAPON (Japan)

Moment (Japan)

OXFAM Japan (Japan)

Rainbow/PUSH Coalition (Rev. JesseJackson) (USA)

Results Japan (Japan)

Society Association HIV.LV (Lativia)

Stop AIDS Campaign (UK)

Student Global AIDS Campaign (USA)

The Osservatorio Italiano sull'AzioneGlobale contro l'AIDS - ItalianNetwork against AIDS (Italy)

Together with Africa and Asia Association (TAAA) (Japan)

2050 (Japan)

World AIDS Campaign (International)

Individuals supporting the request for a funding plan:

Sally Fisher Intersect

WorldwideRev. Jesse Jackson Rainbow/PUSH Coalition

Richard Miller ActionAid UK

Aleksandrs Molokovskis Society Association HIV.LV

Ken Bluestone Stop AIDS Campaign (UK )

Chair Summary of the Development Ministers Meeting