Press Release: World AIDS Day 2010: European Commission urges more prevention and testing and tops €1.3 billion invested in the fight against AIDS in the world

To commemorate World AIDS Day, 1 December 2010, EU Commissioner for Health John Dalli gave a keynote speech at a seminar on HIV testing in the European Parliament. Early detection is vital for early treatment and increasing life expectancy, as estimates show that about one third of people infected with HIV in Europe are unaware they have it. To fight AIDS on a global scale, EU Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs recently announced a 10% increase in contributions to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), to which the EU is already the largest donor, providing 52% of resources. The increase would allow the Commission to contribute around €1.3 billion over the period 2002-2013.

European Commission: Memo/10/630: Key Facts on the European Commission's actions to fight HIV/Aids http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/10/630&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

European Commission: Speech/10/712: John Dalli, Member of the European Commission responsible for Health and Consumer Policy, "Effective HIV testing is an important step in fighting the epidemic" http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/10/712&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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