Development and Cooperation


	Contributions from the Column Facts and trends Preventing AIDS through social marketing of contraceptives Guidelines for intervention German Development Ministry budget for 2005 German Development Ministry concept on fighting AIDS Malaria vaccine testing successful Small loans, big impacts 400 billion dollars annually in bribes “Leave us in peace!” Separating civilian aid and the military 12/2004		German Development Ministry concept on fighting AIDS The Development Ministry considers AIDS to be one of today’s greatest threats to the developing countries. According to a new concept paper presented in early November, the Ministry wants to see the fight against the immune deficiency disease become a cross-sectional task of German development cooperation. The central focus should be on prevention, fighting mother-to-child transmission of the HIV virus, and the treatment and care of AIDS patients. The prime aim of prevention is to break the silence about the illness and to promote responsible sexual habits – in other words: the use of condoms. Here the German Development Ministry is clearly distancing itself from more conservative approaches, such as that of the US Government, which rely on sexual abstinence. Such approaches are “unrealistic”. Pregnant women must have access to voluntary AIDS tests, safe birthing practices and alternative baby food. These precautions could considerably reduce the risk of the child acquiring the HIV virus from the mother. To improve therapy options, the Federal Government supports initiatives which enable poor countries to access affordable medication more easily, such as the manufacture of generic drugs. (ell)