December 1, 2014 — Canada is a long-standing and active player in the global HIV/AIDS response. Sustained international efforts to improve access to effective treatments, strengthen health systems, and deliver innovative prevention programs have led to decreases in new infections and AIDS-related mortality. Around the world, more than 35 million people are living with HIV/AIDS—95 percent of them in low and middle-income countries. Compared to 2001, there has been an astounding 38-percent drop in the number of new infections among adults and children combined. AIDS-related mortality has also continued to decline. In 2013, 1.5 million people died of AIDS-related causes—down by 35 percent from the peak in 2005.
Since 2001, Canada has committed over $2.1 billion dollars to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The Global Fund is a unique, public-private partnership among governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities that takes an innovative approach to health financing. With contributions from Canada and other donors, Global Fund programs provide antiretroviral therapy to 6.1 million people living with HIV in developing countries. Our support to the Global Fund is a critical component of the $2.85-billion Muskoka Initiative announced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in June 2010.
Canada has also been a strong supporter of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) since it began in 1996. With 13.6 million people receiving antiretroviral therapy as of last June, the world is on track to deliver HIV treatment to 15 million people—a target set by UN member states in 2011.
In partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Canada supports the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative—a $139-million initiative to help develop an affordable and globally accessible HIV vaccine. The Harper government is also supporting the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission as part of our commitment to improving maternal, newborn and child health. Approximately 90 percent of new infections are passed on during pregnancy, labour and delivery, or through breastfeeding. That is why scaling up preventive efforts holds great promise for reversing the epidemic among children and their mothers. Canada, in partnership with the Gates Foundation, is helping to leverage research to reduce the transmission of HIV through the World Health Organization’s INSPIRE project. As a part of this project, research teams are working with national government health care programs to better understand what the barriers are to service delivery and to find ways to remove bottlenecks.
On World AIDS Day, I am proud to say that Canada remains committed to working with our partners and developing countries to combat HIV/AIDS around the world and build on the remarkable progress seen over the past few years. Together, we can successfully treat those living with HIV/AIDS and save the millions of lives that hang in the balance.
The Honourable Christian Paradis
Minister of International Development and La Francophonie
