World AIDS Day

01 Dec 2011

On the occasion of World AIDS Day, France contemplates the memory of the more than 30 million people who have succumbed to the virus over the last 30 years. It reaffirms its commitment alongside the EU and the entire international community in the fight against AIDS and the need to continue the efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

France has made the fight against HIV/AIDS one of its priorities. It is one of the world’s leading financial contributors. The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs therefore devotes:

• More than €360 million per year to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria;
• €110 million per year to the International Drug Purchase Facility (UNITAID);
• More than €2 million to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
• Almost €45 million per year to bilateral aid to combat HIV/AIDS, notably through the ESTHER hospital cooperation initiative and the projects financed by the French Development Agency (AFD).

France will uphold its global commitments, despite the difficult economic and budgetary situation.

These efforts are working: the Global Fund to Fight AIDS programs are currently enabling 3 million people, 55% of whom are in sub-Saharan Africa, to benefit from antiretroviral treatment. UNITAID made it possible to lower the cost of pediatric antiretroviral treatments by almost 50% between 2008 and 2010.

France continues to promote the fundamental values that protect HIV-positive people from discrimination and stigmatization, and which notably guarantee the freedom to travel, the freedom of residence, access to good quality treatment, equality and gender equality. It remains convinced that the fight against HIV/AIDS isn’t just a matter of resources, but also a matter of equality. In this context, it is particularly attached to the protection of young girls.