United Press International - September 22, 2003
William M. Reilly, UPI United Nations Correspondent

The all-day session, on the eve of the annual General Debate in the U.N. General Assembly where heads of state, governments and ministries were expected to dwell more on the war in Iraq and U.N. reform, went into the midnight hours.

Nations of the world have to drastically step up the war against AIDS if there is to be any hope of starting to reduce the scale and impact of the epidemic by 2005, as pledged in the 2001 Declaration of Commitment, Annan said, adding several of this year's goals already have been missed.

Outlining shortcomings, Annan noted that a third of all countries still had no policies to ensure that women had access to prevention and care, though women now account for half of those infected worldwide; more than a third of heavily affected countries still have no strategies in place for looking after the increasing number of AIDS orphans; and two-thirds of all countries fail to provide legal protection against discrimination for the groups that are most vulnerable to HIV.

Only one in nine people wanting to know their HIV status has access to testing, and in sub-Saharan Africa, only one in 16, and only one in 20 pregnant women receiving antenatal care has access to services that could help her avoid transmitting HIV to her baby, or to treatment that could prolong her life, the secretary-general said.

"If we are to stand any chance of meeting the 2005 targets, these ratios will have to be improved drastically," Annan said.

However, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell was more positive, saying, "Our task remains enormous, yet important progress has been made."

He cited increases in contributions to the Global Fund against infectious diseases and also said there have been changes in attitudes.

"Like all great evils, AIDS feeds on ignorance and fear," Powell said. "More and more public figures are speaking out, shattering the silence that kills.They are sending the message that people living with AIDS should not be treated with cruelty and discrimination, but instead with dignity and with compassion."

He called on the assembly to adopt a resolution reaffirming the need for all nations to reach the goals outlined in the declaration, starting with the targets for the year 2003.

"For our part, the United States will remain at the forefront of the worldwide effort to combat AIDS," Powell said, adding, "As President (George) Bush has said, 'In the face of preventable death and suffering, we have a moral duty to act,' and we are acting."

President Jacques Chirac of France said, "The spread of HIV/AIDS is no longer insuperable and inevitable. We now have the means to bring it under control."

He called on the United Nations to declare a global health emergency in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

"I propose that the General Assembly devote a session to the subject each year," he said. "That will enable the secretary-general to report on progress in the achievement of our common goals. Each country will report on its national and international efforts. And around the three poles -UNAIDS, World Health Organization, and the Global Fund, each international organization will report on its own efforts.

"Thus united in a struggle on behalf of life, the international community will achieve a decisive victory, and give grounds for confidence in the future of humanity," Chirac concluded."

A host of African heads of state and government urged members of the General Assembly not to forget their countries, many considered among the most affected in the world.

A sampling of remarks delivered during the all-day session:

Nigerian President Olesegun Obasanjo said inadequate resources, the lack of technical capacity in developing countries and the high cost of antiretroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS victims were among the issues to be addressed internationally.In that regard, he called for research priorities that were designed to take into account the health needs of developing countries and the allocation of additional resources for research in the development of a vaccine against the virus.

Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Franco Fratini, speaking on behalf of the European Union, said the group was committed to promoting the availability and reliability of drugs and to lowering prices and supporting the local manufacture of drugs.The EU had erected legislation to prevent the re-importation of reduced-price drugs in an effort to encourage further participation by the pharmaceutical industry.

Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen said he intended that during his country's presidency of the EU in the first half of 2004 to drive forward the fight against HIV/AIDS and to "prioritize work on HIV/AIDS in the development agenda of the European Union presidency."

He called for stronger coordination at the global level between the relevant U.N. agencies, the World Bank and the Global Fund, and said it was imperative that every cent mobilized for HIV/AIDS be well spent.Noting that Ireland was a supporter of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, he said countries needed to work together to ensure that future generations were protected from disease, through a cheap and effective vaccine.

Bill Graham, Canada's foreign minister, said the ravages of the HIV/AIDS pandemic were affecting almost everything the United Nations and member nations were trying to accomplish, threatening to subvert progress in areas such as development, trade and agriculture.The international community could not hope to achieve any real success in its collective efforts until it addressed the pandemic and the devastation it had wrought on societies around the world, he said.

Julio Frenk, Mexico's health minister, said his nation's policy was based upon prevention, holistic medical care, respect for human rights and the active participation of society.He said Mexico had one of the lowest rates of infection on the American continent and the virus had been prevented from spreading to the population at large; this had been accomplished through efforts to eliminate the spread of HIV/AIDS through blood transmissions and prenatal transmission.

Frenk also said Mexico had initiated legislation to protect HIV/AIDS victims from catastrophic medical expenses, and free medical assistance would be available to all living with HIV/AIDS by 2006.

Foreign Minister Kassymzhomart Tokaev, of Kazakhstan, said despite a relatively low incidence of HIV/AIDS in his nation, without the deep involvement of international cooperation in addressing the disease, AIDS would seriously affect his country's internal stability.That was why Kazakhstan had adopted legislation on HIV/AIDS, providing governmental preventive measures and guaranteeing fundamental rights to people affected by the disease.

"It will not be an exaggeration to say that the issue of HIV/AIDS demands no less attention than other issues of international security", he said.

Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi of Iran said among the world's continents, Asia was projected as having the highest infection rates for HIV/AIDS.Although Iran's social traditions and religious beliefs had prevented the disease from spreading too much, its presence was growing nonetheless.

Although care and support services were provided free of charge, he said more financial and technical assistance was needed. Kharrazi said the importance of cultural, family, ethical, and religious factors in preventing and treating the disease was essential specifically to promote responsible sexual behavior, family values, and better moral choices, as well as poverty reduction.Also, special attention must be paid to the affordability and accessibility of safe and effective drugs on the international market.

Nguyen Dy Nien, Vietnam's foreign minister, said since the emergence of HIV/AIDS in his country in 1990, the government had given due attention and had taken strong action to prevent its spread. Given that the HIV/AIDS pandemic brought colossal burdens in terms of finances and health care to bear upon poor countries, Viet Nam called on developed countries to fulfill their commitments to contribute to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

In the same vein, he urged big pharmaceutical corporations, which held intellectual property rights for HIV/AIDS medicines, to adopt a policy on price reduction for poor countries and to lease the patents so that poor countries could produce medicine for their own patients.

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