Inter Press Service - November 17, 2003
Thalif Deen

"HIV/AIDS represents a challenge to every one of the 42,000 soldiers and police officers currently under U.N. command," Under-Secretary-General Peter Piot, executive director of UNAIDS, told the Security Council.

"Unless the HIV challenge is met, the sustainability of these (peacekeeping) operations, and their invaluable contribution to global security will be under threat," he added.

Piot's warning comes after several recent reports about the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS among peacekeeping troops and in the national armies of some African nations.

According to a report released by the Washington-based Worldwatch Institute (WWI) in May, AIDS is a growing new threat to national armies in countries such as South Africa, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where more than four in 10 soldiers are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

WWI Researcher Radhika Sarin says that peacekeeping forces in at least two countries -- Sierra Leone and Cambodia -- have been linked with the spread of HIV/AIDS in those countries.

"There are number of ways in which AIDS threatens national security," she says in an interview on the WWI website. "The spread of HIV/AIDS within the military can undermine combat readiness."

The U.S. National Intelligence Council has estimated that 10 to 60 percent of all soldiers in sub-Saharan Africa are infected with HIV.

The 'London Times' said last year that South Africa's 76,000-strong military has been "paralysed" by an HIV infection rate of up to 50 percent.

WWI quoted Nigerian Colonel Wale Egbewunni as saying that AIDS is "deadlier than war".

Piot was also critical of the Security Council for not placing AIDS high on its peacekeeping agenda.

"I do note with some regret, however, that the Security Council has not taken the opportunity to address AIDS in a number of recent resolutions establishing and extending U.N. missions, especially given that some of the missions are operating in regions which already have major HIV epidemics."

Of the 14 peacekeeping operations currently in force, six are in Africa: in Sierra Leone, DRC, Ethiopia/Eritrea, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia and Western Sahara.

Africa has the highest number of HIV/AIDS infections in the world, with an estimated 28.5 million people living with the disease, including about 2.6 million children under the age of 15.

The U.N.'s 42,000 military personnel and civilian police have been drawn mostly from armies and law enforcement agencies in 92 countries, mostly from the developing world.

The United Nations does not have precise figures on how many peacekeepers have contracted the disease because it does not screen U.N. troops for AIDS. Countries that contribute troops to U.N. missions are expected to ensure the health of their soldiers.

Sarin said that at least two countries -- Zambia and Russia -- have recently announced they will start testing military recruits for HIV.

Piot said that many political leaders are engaged in the battle against AIDS in the military, but more need to be done. "Defence ministers worldwide ought to have AIDS on their radar screens," he said.

UNAIDS, the joint U.N. agency spearheading the war against the devastating disease, is working with young military recruits, peacekeepers, police and immigration officers in about 50 countries.

"One aim has been to institutionalise training on AIDS into training curricula for uniformed services -- as has been achieved in Ukraine's defence forces," Piot said.

Other countries undergoing similar training include Uruguay, Russia and Belarus.

UNAIDS has also published case studies of HIV prevention among armed forces and peacekeepers in Eritrea, Ukraine and Thailand. Additionally, the agency has placed gender advisers in post-conflict countries such as Sierra Leone, DRC and Angola.

The U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations has HIV/AIDS policy advisers in four major peacekeeping operations -- in DRC, East Timor, Ethiopia/Eritrea and in Sierra Leone. It will soon recruit an HIV/AIDS policy adviser in Liberia.

U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guehenoo told the Security Council that some behaviour that increases the risk of contracting and transmitting HIV, such as engaging in sexual contact with commercial sex workers, "is unacceptable and damaging to the central mission of (U.N.) peacekeeping".

"Whether military, civilian or police, all personnel deployed in U.N. peacekeeping operations are required to uphold the highest standards of integrity," he added.

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+UNAIDS (http://www.unaids.org/en/default.asp)

+Worldwatch Institute (http://www.worldwatch.org/)

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