Switzerland boosts spending in fight against Aids

The Swiss interior minister, Ruth Dreifuss, represented Switzerland at the special UN session Keystone

The Swiss interior minister, Ruth Dreifuss, has called on the international community to pledge more funds to help fight HIV/Aids. She told the United Nations special session on the disease in New York that multilateral Swiss contributions were being doubled.

Dreifuss told delegates at the three-day meeting that the increase in Swiss spending served to underline how seriously the authorities in Bern were taking the issue.

She said the government’s multilateral contribution had doubled to SFr4 million in 2001, and would rise to SFr8 million next year. The funds are to be spent on multi-sector programmes rather than short-term projects.

Mark Becher, of the Swiss Aids Federation, a non-governmental organisation working on behalf of victims of HIV/Aids, welcomed Dreifuss’ announcement, but warned that the increased funding was just a first step towards solving the problem.

“Our organisation welcomes the announcement from Switzerland, but we think it is only a first step in the right direction,” Becher said in an interview with swissinfo, “and it is certainly not enough.”

Dreifuss said the cost of Aids medicaments should be cut drastically to ensure they were readily accessible in the world’s poorest countries.

The purpose of the meeting, she said, was not just “to discuss the problem of Aids but to decide on concrete action in the battle to control the epidemic.”

She also called on all those present at the UN session to focus on prevention of the disease: “Our priority must be on prevention, because we do not yet have the right medicine to fight against this disease,” she said.

In her speech, Dreifuss gave details of the Swiss government’s campaigns and policies to cut the spread of Aids.

“The Swiss government recognises that the battle against Aids can succeed only if we work in partnership with international organisations, non-governmental organisations, the business sector as well as with victims of HIV/Aids and their families.”

Becher, a member of the delegation of Swiss NGOs at the New York conference, also called on other countries to work together to fight the disease.

“It’s important that every country is committed to the fight against Aids,” he said, “and crucial that every country admits there is a problem.”

Several speakers underlined the gravity of the Aids crisis at the start of the meeting. The disease has left 22 million people dead and 36 million have been infected.

Dreifuss also met the UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, who has launched a fund to raise $10 billion (SFr17.8 billion) a year to fight against Aids and other infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis and malaria.

swissinfo with agencies