Canadians want to ramp up global AIDS initiatives: poll

Source: CBC News

Most Canadians want the federal government to help increase access to treatment for people living with HIV and AIDS in developing countries, according to an Ipsos-Reid poll released Friday. Ninety-one per cent of those surveyed said that it's "very important" (46 per cent) or "somewhat important" (45 per cent) that the federal government should help facilitate access to drugs and medical treatments.

Residents of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba were most likely to believe this is important, accounting for 93 per cent of the responses. Forty-eight per cent of respondents felt that current spending on HIV and AIDS outside of Canada is too little, while 43 per cent said the government spends "the right amount."

Stephen Lewis, board chair of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, told CBC.ca that the poll highlights a large divide between the views of Canadians and their politicians. He spoke at a press conference in Toronto announcing the results of the Ipsos-Reid poll.

"I've never fully understood that. The G8 governments have always had this extraordinary disconnect between what obviously the public feels about the issue and what the politicians express or do on the issue. I don't know what that means," he said. "Does it mean that the budget is more important than human well-being? How do they go to Africa for their photo ops and then they come back and it's business as usual?"

Lewis used the press conference to lobby the federal government for more aid. "We are calling on Canada to provide five per cent of the global [AIDS] fund, which is $900 million over the next three years."

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More information here: http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/pressrelease.cfm?id=3596