San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Ulla Schmidt**

After long and heated debates in the mid '80s, Germany has opted for the liberal way of respecting people's lifestyles; by informing them objectively and convincing them to protect themselves from infection.

Irrespective of which political parties were in the government, they all have made an effort to have a dialogue with people living with HIV/AIDS. Dialogue, integration and solidarity with the afflicted rather than marginalization and stigmatization are both a requirement of a liberal state and a very successful method to protect public health.

To me, sharing knowledge and assistance in providing medication is a natural commitment of a good neighborhood.

In March of this year, during the German presidency of the European Union, I organized a conference in the northern German city of Bremen for the health ministers of 40 European and neighboring countries to highlight that leading politicians have an essential role to play in the response to HIV/AIDS. This approach was well demonstrated by the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, who gave the keynote speech. On the other hand, groups representing European civil society co-organized the conference and contributed to its final documents.

Another important actor is the private sector. At my initiative, leading European pharmaceutical companies signed an agreement to cooperate with the governments and with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in delivering cheaper antiretroviral drugs for countries in need. The first countries to benefit will be Bulgaria, Estonia and Romania.

I believe that the global community has made considerable efforts in the response to HIV/AIDS. The G8 member states, which met last month under the German presidency, reiterated their commitment to universal access to prevention, treatment and care until 2010, but there remains much more to do.

My vision is:

-- Research results by German scientists published two weeks ago on cutting the virus from the infected cell will bring us another step closer to a cure,

-- Research in microbicides soon will be successful in order to empower women to protect themselves without depending on their partner,

-- Our investment in the education of women and girls, men and boys, will act as a "social vaccine" against HIV/AIDS because it empowers women and men to know how to protect themselves and to act accordingly.

On a governmental, as well as on a global level, we agree that empowerment of women is the single most important key to achieve results in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Let us together turn vision into reality.

**Ulla Schmidt is the German federal minister for health. She delivered this address here July 12 to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation.

*This article was re-printed with permission from the author.

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