African-EU Summit, Cairo Plan of Action, Cairo, Egypt, 3-4 April 2000
Commitments in: Health - General health and health funding
“We agree to:
...103. Also co-operate in the provision of adequate financial and technical assistance to African countries geared towards the eradication of endemic diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis, polio and river blindness.”
Commitments in: Health - Maternal health, reproductive health and infant mortality
“We agree to:
...100. Increase support to meeting basic needs and to greater protection and priority access for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. In particular, greater account shall be taken in matters regarding women's health and family planning. Support for the development of systems of social protection and security will be increased.
101. Continue to work towards:
a) greater access to safe water and sanitation;
b) the reduction of maternal mortality;
c) the reduction of the mortality rates of infants and children under the age of five years;
d) the reduction of the number of malnourished persons.”
Commitments in: Health - Health systems, medicines and regulation
“We agree to:
...102. Promote formulation of national drug policies and strategies with a view to improve the access to and affordability of essential drugs.”
Commitments in: Health - Malaria
“We agree to:
99. Work towards the eradication of endemic, parasitic and infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, polio, major infectious diseases of childhood and river blindness, which have retarded the quality, and productivity of Africa's human resources.”
Commitments in: Health - HIV/AIDS
“We agree to:
...105. Work together to focus national HIV/AIDS programmes on well known and effective strategies for reducing the spread of the disease. We call on African Governments, EU Partners and external agencies to work with UNAIDS Africa Partnership and civil society to mitigate the devastating impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
106. Recognise the growing burden of HIV on individuals and are committed to reducing the stigma of people with HIV, promoting local solutions such as home-based care, developing programmes to help AIDS orphans to become and remain valued productive members of society, improving health services, promoting and improving access to essential drugs.
107. Promote co-operation in research into new treatment regimes and their registration, as well as in the use of anti-retrovirals in the prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS, as contained in the Dakar (1992) and Tunis (1994) Heads of State and Government Declarations on HIV/AIDS. We will support initiatives aimed at developing an appropriate HIV/AIDS vaccine.
108. Call on pharmaceutical companies, whether research-based or not, to do their utmost to make medicines, whether patented or not, available at affordable prices in particular to the poorest and for the most serious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS.”
