EUR 686 million approved for Health and Debt Relief

The ACP-EU Council bringing together Ministers from African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries and EU Member States has allocated money to support global initiatives in the areas of Health and Debt Relief. €351 million has been approved for fighting killer diseases while €335 million has been given to debt relief.

Since 2001, the EU and the ACP have been working together on prioritising and scaling up actions targeting the three major communicable diseases: HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis. A comprehensive package was adopted encompassing complementary actions in the areas of development co-operation, research and trade. On 20 May the EU adopted a new regulation targeting poverty diseases providing for €351 million of aid for the three diseases in all developing countries. In order to guarantee a specific focus on ACP countries, an additional €150 million from the long term reserve will be granted to advancing the public health agenda. With this decision, all ACP countries have demonstrated their full commitment to attaining the Millennium Development Goals for HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB, to achieving development and economic growth, alleviating poverty and enhancing the standard and quality of life of their people.

With regard to debt relief, the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative was launched in September 1996 with the aim to help reduce to sustainable levels the debt burden of the poorest countries that make efforts to reform. The EC had already pledged more than €1.275 billion to the initiative.

The ACP-EU Council has approved €335 million for debt relief in the framework of the HIPC initiative, €200 million of which is an ACP-EU donor contribution to the HIPC Trust Fund. The remaining €135 million is a contribution by the EU as creditor. EU Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Poul Nielson, welcomed this move, saying "By agreeing to use the long term development reserves intended for all the 78 ACP partners for the poorest amongst them, the Group of ACP countries decision is a concrete sign of South-South solidarity."

With this decision the total amount made available for the HIPC initiative from Community funds now rises to more than €1.6 billion.

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