South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - December 1, 2002

Lamy, who made the call to mark World Aids Day on Sunday, said: "To everyone affected by Aids, especially in the developing world and right here in South Africa, I would say this: there is hope in sight. But everyone who can make a difference must act now."

He said that by "everyone" he meant governments, donor organisations, industry as well as non-governmental organisations and other civil society bodies.

"Let's look at all the angles together," he said.

"We need more funding for research and promotion of public-private partnerships to find a cure ...We need to make sure the Global Fund to fight Aids, Malaria and Tuberculosis is properly funded ...And we must make sure there are health systems in place to catch the vulnerable in a safety net. For this, we must also find funding."

Besides speaking of what had yet to be done, Lamy also commended governments and civil society bodies in the developing world for their co-ordinated efforts in raising Aids awareness especially amongst younger people.

"In my recent trips to Zambia and Mozambique and today in South Africa I have been struck by the imaginative ways in which this (awareness campaigns) is happening here now," Lamy said.

In terms of making available affordable medicines to fight the pandemic in the third world -- the poorest and hardest hit Aids region -- Lamy said he was personally committed to working on two fronts.

"First, at the World Trade Organisation we are just working hard to strike an important agreement on producing and exporting medicines and active ingredients to developing countries including Least Developed Countries which are unable to make their own locally.

"At the same time we attach utmost importance to appropriate safeguards being part of the future agreement ensuring that medicines exported under it do reach the countries which are in urgent need of those medicines.

"Second, we are encouraging manufacturers able to make available medicines at lower prices for developing countries to do so. Here again, we have suggested to offer a new legal tool at EU level to ensure that the medicines reach the countries for which they are intended," Lamy said.

In conclusion Lamy cautioned against forgetting those countries or people who could not afford medicine however cheap and made clear that they too were entitled to treatment.

"Medicines are not a luxury," he said.

"Let's join forces in a coalition of the willing to make sure that those who need them get them."

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