UNAIDS (Geneva) - November 29, 2001

And this year, the World AIDS Campaign - which culminates on World AIDS Day - focused again on men in order to highlight both their vulnerability to infection and their responsibilities in prevention and care.

This year we have reached a crossroads. In a charged and changed world, our test is whether we can begin to decisively roll back the epidemic, building on two decades of hard work. We are being challenged not only to sustain our efforts but also to push beyond them. We now know that HIV/AIDS is more than just a health issue. It is indeed more than a development issue, encompassing, as it does, human security in its broadest sense - the fundamental need for people everywhere to live a safe, healthy and productive life.

The Declaration of Commitment unanimously adopted by the nations of the world has made clear that halting the spread of the epidemic and caring for those already living with HIV go hand in hand, and that human rights and an end to discrimination are central to effective responses to HIV/AIDS. The Declaration calls for governments, business and communities - in particular people living with HIV/AIDS - to join together at every level in a common fight. By reaching across society's traditional boundaries and working together, we are showing we have the courage to care and to change.

Reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS depends on increasing access to comprehensive AIDS strategies. There is broad consensus that prevention, care support and treatment are mutually reinforcing. What is needed is sustained implementation of effective responses to the epidemic. HIV prevention must become a mainstream concern, permeating the fabric of social life. Barriers to accessing the information and means of protecting against HIV must be overcome, as a matter of human rights.

The success of the response to HIV/AIDS will hinge on the strength of the alliances we build collectively. When the United Nations five years ago linked the work of its own institutions into the joint UNAIDS programme it was a signal of a commitment to partnership on AIDS. That family has grown: the International Labour Organization (ILO) joined UNAIDS as its eighth Cosponsor this year.

Two paths lead from our crossroads: down one we continue business as usual and the epidemic will continue to outpace us, with untold misery around the globe as the result. The other path is the path of hope: seizing the current opportunity with agreed global goals against AIDS and new commitment to find the necessary resources.

In the end, we will beat this epidemic. We will do it together - the United Nations, its Member States, the groups that strive to prevent the spread of HIV and those that fight for medicines and for an end to discrimination, the communities and individuals that continue to show, day in and day out, that they, like our Campaign proclaims, do care.

Peter Piot, Executive Director, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
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