Dr. Ruby Dhalla Joins Thirty-Two Thousand Canadians in effort to battle HIV/AIDS and TB

Ottawa, March 06, 2009
Candice Debi

Today, Member of Parliament Dr Ruby Dhalla, joined MPs Nicole Demers and Paul Dewar in a press conference to launch a petition to increase Canada`s Official Development Assistance to 0.7%, increase Canada’s contributions to the Global Fund and HIV and improve legislation for the access to medicines in Africa.

“Canada must take a firm stance to improve our support to those suffering from HIV, TB and Malaria in the developing world, too many lives have needlessly been lost to these infectious diseases” said Dr. Dhalla.

The petition, signed by more than 32,000 Canadians is an initiative brought forward by the Canadian Grandmothers for Africa Network, a grassroots movement undertaken by grandmothers across Canada which fundraises provides support for families affected by the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The petition calls for Canada to meet the 40-year old commitment to commit 0.7% of GDP to official development assistance, to increase our contributions to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and malaria and to make legislative changes to make sure low-cost medicines are flowing through Canada’s Access to Medicines Regulations (CAMR).

“I had the opportunity to visit South Africa, which is suffering from some of the largest TB and HIV infection rates. I saw firsthand the devastating effects our inaction is having. We know how to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS and TB,” said Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla. “Canada has the opportunity to change the lives of millions living in Sub Saharan Africa. The time for Canada to act, is now” said Dr Dhalla

Sub-Saharan Africa has been hit the hardest by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, with 22.5 million infected. Currently there are over 13 million orphans, who live in impoverished conditions, many of which are now orphans being raised by their grandmothers. To bring attention to this growing crisis, Dr Dhalla hosted a roundtable last June entitled ``Ending HIV and TB Co-infection: A Political Imperative.” In 2007, Dr Dhalla also traveled with Results Canada on a delegation to South Africa to collaborate with NGO’s in the fight against TB and HIV.

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