Members of parliament from India, Italy, South Africa, Uganda and the United States held a briefing at the US Congress on 12 June to share their national experiences on mobilizing a more robust parliamentary response to HIV/AIDS.
Three of the MPs, Henrietta Bogopane-Zulu (South Africa), Elioda Tumwesigye (Uganda) and Jesudas Seelam (India), are members of the IPU Advisory Group on HIV/AIDS, which had just returned from a trip to Brazil to study that country's best practices in fighting the disease. The United States component was represented by Donald Payne, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health; and Betty McCollum, co-Chair of the Congressional Global Health Caucus.
Representative Payne brought home the fact that parliamentary action can be central to a nation's response to HIV/AIDS. According to him, "In the United States, it was the legislature which led U.S. action to address global AIDS. People are under the impression that fighting global AIDS was an original idea that came from the Bush Administration. This is far from the truth. It was Congress which came up with the original plan to create an international trust fund to fight AIDS."
Another important point made was that parliaments must help adapt international responses to national contexts. For example, the so-called "ABC" (abstinence, fidelity and condom use) approach underlying the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in Africa (PEPFAR) will work differently depending on the behavior of the general population. Whereas in Uganda people are more receptive to abstinence and monogamy messages, in India it is condom use that appears to make the biggest difference in halting the spread of infection.
In exercising oversight of government funding to combat the disease, parliaments in developing countries should pursue a holistic approach so that drugs, clean water and nutrition programmes go hand in hand. It is unfortunately futile to provide drugs to sick people unless they have enough food in their stomachs to absorb them. Parliamentary oversight should also extend to the area of pharmacological research, ensuring that clinical trials are carried out according to the highest ethical standards.
Whatever the policy area or main concerns, parliaments can work together across borders to exchange best practices and learn from one another. There is no question that in too many places members of parliament need education on HIV/AIDS and that an international effort such as that of the IPU Advisory Group can make a big difference.
Organized jointly with UNAIDS, which was represented at the meeting by Dr. Pauline Muchina, the briefing was opened by the IPU President, Hon. Pier Ferdinando Casini (Italy). Mr. Casini took the opportunity to announce that a world parliamentary conference on the theme of Leadership would take place later in the year in conjunction with World AIDS Day organizers.
