Public health and development: actions in the field of the AIDS in developing countries, 1997-1999 programme

In adopting the report by Mrs ANDRE-LEONARD, the Committee on Development and Cooperation decided to retable at second reading the amendments that the Council had not included in its common position. It called for the programme to help developing countries minimise the spread of HIV/AIDS to develop strategies aimed at: - promoting an effective policy to prevent HIV/AIDS from being transmitted sexually, perinatally or through the blood and to prevent and treat sexually transmitted diseases; - breaking the 'poverty-instability-HIV/AIDS' cycle, giving particular attention to high-risk groups (refugees, migrants, itinerant workers, soldiers, prisoners, prostitutes, etcetera); - reinforcing health and social services (sexual education courses for young people that respect their cultural identity); - promoting a policy aimed at ensuring respect for the fundamental human rights referred to in the decisions of the Fourth World Women's Conference in Beijing. It also called for action to be taken on: sexual and reproductive health education; the promotion of methods for systematic HIV/AIDS screening among the populations in developing countries; - the setting-up of a solidarity instrument to improve the treatment for those affected by HIV in the poorest countries, in conjunction with the Member States and the NGOs; - actions to combat discrimination, stigmas and the ghettoization of those living with the virus. �