Mike Hancock, MP Helps Portsmouth Students Hand In Petition On World Aids Prevention Direct To 10, Downing Street

Mike Hancock, MP (Lib Dem – Portsmouth South) will tomorrow (11.25 am - Thursday 20th January) help Portsmouth University students hand in a petition collected by Portsmouth University’s “People and Planet” society and signed by hundreds of students direct to 10, Downing Street. The petition calls for Tony Blair to use the British presidency in 2005 of the G8 group of the richest nations to make Aids care and treatment available to all 38 million people worldwide who need it – particularly in developing countries. As well as gathering signatures for the petition on the last World Aids Day (December 1st), the People and Planet Society also raised £250 for a travelling theatre that will help educate African villages about HIV/AIDS and also surveyed Portsmouth students on their knowledge and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS for the local health authority.

The issue is particularly important to the UK, this year as this country will have the presidency of the EU and the G8 group of 8 richest countries. The UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan has called the AIDS epidemic “the genocide of a generation.” It also looks likely that the World Health Organisation target of getting 3 million people on treatment by 2005 will fail. Aid organisations say that the issue is linked to other issues of cancelling debt and fairer trade between developing and developed nations.

Mike Hancock said “Portsmouth University “People and Planet” society is to be congratulate on organising this petition. It is clear that students in Portsmouth care about people worldwide that are suffering because of this virus. There are of course many problems here at home but with the recent Tsunami disaster, many people have been thinking of what needs to be done to help developing nation and that we live in an inter-dependent world. If we can give a hand-up to developing nations and help them to help themselves that in turn will benefit the UK. Unfortunately there will be far greater disasters this year than the Tsunami disaster – just as there was last year. Millions will die from preventable and treatable diseases like AIDS, TB and Malaria. And there needs to be both prevention as well as access to modern treatments if we are to fight them.”

The Lib Dems in their “Pre-manifesto” policy document argued that the UN target of 0.7% of national income going to development aid should be reached faster than the Government target of 2013. The UK first pledged to meet this target in 1970. The Lib Dems have also argued for more progress on the WTO’s TRIPS agreement which would allow developing countries to import, manufacture or distribute cheap drugs to those suffering from HIV/Aids. Last year, the Canadian government put forward legislation that would allow generic drug manufacturers to export cheap copies of patented medicines – mostly Aids drugs – to poor countries. This is the first such law proposed by any G8 government and Mike Hancock has called upon the UK government to put forward a similar measure. He said “The Government must set a clear timetable for allowing generic drug makers to export cheap copies of patented Aids drugs to poor countries.”