Since becoming Minister, I have become only too familiar with the grim statistics on the spread of HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. Over 3.8 million people in the region became infected in 2000 and 2.4 million died of the disease. AIDS is now the leading cause of death in Africa. There are over 9 million children orphaned.
These and other equally disturbing figures mask the heart-rending reality in Africa's villages. They do not reveal the courage of Africa's poor in coping with the disease. They hide the enormous contribution of NGOs and missionaries in bringing aid to people who are sick, destitute and orphaned.
During my recent visits to Africa, I travelled to some of the poorest regions of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. I saw at first hand how HIV/AIDS is undermining Africa's future. It is striking down teenagers and parents with small children, leaving orphans in the care of grandparents, the State or NGOs. The plight of these orphans, many of whom have been exposed to the disease themselves, is particularly moving.
I was also privileged to witness individual acts of courage and selflessness, small in scale but enormous in their affirmation of our common humanity. The devotion of Irish missionaries and our NGOs to helping alleviate the impact of the disease on some of the most destitute people on earth is humbling. Their work was deservedly highlighted by the President when she met with our missionaries and NGOs in Africa in October.
I have put the fight against HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa at the top of Ireland Aid's immediate priorities. All of the recent progress which has been made in reducing the number of people living in extreme poverty is at risk if the global community does not halt and reverse the spread of the disease.
I am also moving forward with the implementation of the Government's commitment to meeting the UN target of spending 0.7 per cent of Ireland's GNP on overseas development assistance by 2007. This is providing substantial extra resources for our efforts to help poor countries deal with the disease. In 2002 Ireland Aid will spend an additional $30 million on HIV/AIDS programmes.
Our approach is to fight HIV/AIDS on a broad front. We support prevention campaigns and the care of the sick and the orphaned. We also cooperate with international efforts to find a vaccine against HIV/AIDS. Ireland Aid will increase its financial support for our NGOs and missionaries to help them increase their services for the infected and the orphans. We will also continue to press for a global system of drug pricing which will make HIV/AIDS medicines available in poor countries at affordable prices.
One of the principal reasons why the disease has managed to tighten its grip on Africa's poor is the weakness or complete absence of even basic health care for people living in extreme poverty. Ireland Aid is sharply increasing its support for the development of health systems in some of the poorest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The fight against HIV/AIDs is one which will mark our generation. Unfortunately, we have already conceded too much ground, too many have been lost and the future of huge numbers of children is in doubt. I am determined that Ireland Aid, with its additional resources, should help lead the international fight against the disease.
Today, on World AIDS Day, we should pause and reflect on the impact of HIV/AIDS on the men, women and children in Africa and in other developing countries. We should recognise the enormous contribution being made by Irish aid workers, NGOs and missionaries and the Governments of developing countries to helping the poor to live and die with dignity and to giving orphans the possibility of a brighter future.
This work deserves our support and recognition. The national programme of development assistance, Ireland Aid, will strengthen Ireland's partnership with them in our common endeavour to save the poor from the ravages of this terrible disease.