(11) Actions specifically targeted at the poverty diseases must be appropriately situated within the larger context of generally improved, more effective systems of health care and health services in developing countries. Considerable improvement of these systems is vital if HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria are to be combated effectively. Special efforts must be made to integrate interventions targeting the poverty diseases with actions targeting sexual and reproductive health and rights.

(1) On 21 February 2001, the Commission adopted a communication to the European Parliament and to the Council on accelerated action targeted at major communicable diseases within the context of poverty reduction, according to which the Commission was instructed, inter alia, to establish a global tiered pricing system for key pharmaceuticals for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria and related diseases for the poorest developing countries and to prevent product diversion of these products to other markets ...[+++] by ensuring that effective safeguards were in place.

HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and related opportunistic diseases

The lack of progress in reducing the burden of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis through support to strengthen health systems has brought these diseases to the centre of the development debate and has led, in recent years, to the launch of a series of major initiatives. These include: the International Partnership against AIDS in Africa (IPAA), the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), Roll Back Malaria, the Malaria Medicines Initiative (MMV) and the Stop TB Initiative ...[+++].

Fighting corruption is part of it, as are bringing down the level of violence; improving the governance systems; having regulatory and fiscal regimes that are conducive to good business practice; fighting disease; and bringing down the scourge of AIDS, which has such a debilitating effect on families and, ultimately, the workforce.

- the reduction of sexual transmission : . education and information programmes, . creation and launching of media campaigns (television, radio, films, etc.), . educational programmes aimed at specific groups, . improvement of programmes to control sexually transmitted diseases (STD) ; - 4 - - the reduction and control of perinatal transmission : . screening of pregnant women, . counselling of seropositive women on the consequences of HIV infection, . advice to seronegative women on how to avoid infection, . screening and counselling of other members of the family where necessary ; - the reduction of transmission through use of contamined needles, syringes and other skin-piercing instruments : . improvement of standards of professional hy ...[+++]giene, . education of health workers on HIV infection and transmission, . provision of needles and syringes where required, . protection of health workers ; - setting up of surveillance systems to assess the affect of control programmes and the development of the disease ; - supply of material, technical and financial aid to national AIDS control committees ; - participation in the overall assessment of national AIDS control programmes under the aegis of the WHO's SPA ; - the operational research geared to public health which forms part of any national AIDS control programme.