"The World and Japan" Database (Project Leader: TANAKA Akihiko)
Database of Japanese Politics and International Relations
National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS); Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia (IASA), The University of Tokyo

[Title] Chairman's Statement on Aids (Test to be distributed to the press)

[Place] Venezia
[Date] June 10, 1987
[Source] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
[Notes]
[Full text]

On the basis of the concern already shown in the past for health problems (London Chairman's oral statement on cancer and Bonn Chairman's oral statement on drugs), the Heads of State or Government and the representatives of the European Community affirm that AIDS is one of the biggest potential health problems in the world. National efforts need to be intensified and made more effective by international co-operation and concerted campaigns to prevent AIDS from spreading further, and will have to ensure that the measures taken are in accordance with the principles of human rights. In this connection, they agree that:

- international co-operation will not be improved by duplication of effort. Priority will have to be given to strengthening existing organizations by giving them full political support and by providing them with the necessary financial, personnel and administrative resources. The World Health Organization (WHO) is the best forum for drawing together international efforts on a worldwide level to combat AIDS, and all countries should be encouraged fully to co-operate with the WHO and support its special programme of AIDS-related activities;

- in the absence of a vaccine or cure, the best hope for the combat and prevention of AIDS rests on a strategy based on educating the public about the seriousness of the AIDS epidemic, the ways the AIDS virus is transmitted and the practical steps each person can take to avoid acquiring or spreading it. Appropriate opportunities should be used for exchanging information about national education campaigns and domestic policies. The Heads of State or Government and the representatives of the European Community welcome the proposal by the United Kingdom Government to co-sponsor, with the WHO, an international conference at ministerial level on public education about AIDS;

- further co-operation should be promoted for basic and clinical studies on prevention, treatment and the exchange of information (as in the case of the E.C. programme). The Heads of State or Government and the representatives of the European Community welcome and support joint action by researchers in the Seven countries (as in the case of the joint programme of French and American researchers, which is being enlarged, and similar programmes) and all over the world for the cure of the disease, clinical testing on components of the virus, and the development of a successful vaccine. The Heads of State or Government and the representatives of the European Community welcome the proposal by the President of the French Republic aiming at the creation of an International Committee on the ethical issues raised by AIDS.