At their meeting last February the leaders of the Vincentian Family addressed the following letter to the Italian government.Political Action Declaration Against Malaria
To the Italian Government
The Vincentian Family is present almost everywhere in the world and in particular in some 130 countries in the area below the equator with at least one of the following Associations, which comprise a total of more than one million members:
International Association of Charities (AIC)
Congregation of the Mission (CM)
Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul (DC)
Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SSVDP)
Vincentian Marian Youth (JMV)
Sisters of St. Jeanne Antide Thouret
Association of the Miraculous Medal (AMM)
Religious of St. Vincent de Paul (RSV)
Lay Vincentian Missionaries (MISEVI)
The Vincentian Family has, therefore, direct knowledge of the enormous number of victims and the huge damage, even economical, still caused today by malaria, especially on the African continent.
So it launched, for the year 2004–2005, a concrete Political Action Campaign Against Malaria, in order to sensitize governments to this problem, which is very underestimated but technically solvable through appropriate, mainly political, choices, as can be deduced in the attached note.
Therefore, knowing the great commitment that this Government has already shown, and confiding in its sensitiveness and in its deep humanitarian sense, we respectfully address to it the following further requests, which we consider of utmost importance:
– To increase the funds destined to help developing countries struck by the scourge of malaria;
– To promote research and development of specific new medicines, even if their production will not be “cost effective”;
– To provide special fiscal terms for supplying products destined for the struggle against malaria, such as drugs, diagnostic instruments and mosquito nets soaked in insecticide;
– To encourage further, with financial subsidies and other special terms, Italian medical and nursing personnel to volunteer their services freely for limited periods of time in the zones struck by malaria;
– To strive, from within interested international organizations of which this government is a member, to facilitate the conditions of approving patents on drugs against malaria on the part of the large western pharmaceutical companies.
The global objective cannot be attained except by a substantial effort on the part of various governments, both those of the countries most directly concerned and those of the countries situated principally in the north western area of the world, as well as on the part of the large international organizations, each, however, from its specific jurisdiction. It is with this conviction that we have addressed similar appeals both to other governments and to the organizations cited above.
This document was approved by the leaders of the International Vincentian Family at its meeting of 21 February 2004 in Paris and confirmed by the Italian Leadership in Rome.
We trust that our requests will be taken into due consideration for the well-being of entire populations.
Respectfully
Tags: Health, Malaria
