---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2001 19:57:44 -0500
From: APIC <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Africa: African Leaders on AIDS

Africa: African Leaders on AIDS
Date distributed (ymd): 010626
Document reposted by APIC

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+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++

Region: Continent-Wide
Issue Areas: +political/rights+ +economy/development+

SUMMARY CONTENTS:

The UN General Assembly Special Session on AIDS began with over
139 official statements in the first two days
(http://www.un.org/ga/aids/statements/). Critical statements from
activists, non-governmental organizations and youth are expected to
be available soon. In her official statement, British
representative Clare Short commented: "We have, I am afraid, no
reason to congratulate ourselves on the holding of this meeting. We
have been aware of the infection for 20 years and that it was
spreading out of control for at least 10 years. And we must not
fool ourselves that the holding of a UN Special Session leads to
any automatic improvements in prevention or treatment. We use up
enormous energy in arguing at great length over texts that provide
few, if any, follow up mechanisms or assurances that governments
and UN Agencies will carry forward the declarations that are
agreed."

African official statements stressed the need to address gender
inequality, the imperative for greater funding for both treatment
and prevention, and the urgency of debt cancellation so that poor
countries could meet their own commitments to invest in public
health.

This posting contains selected excerpts from official statements by
African countries.

+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Excerpts from Statement By H. E. Dr. Pascoal Manuel Mocumbi Prime
Minister of the Republic of Mozambique

25 June, 2001

We know and widely acknowledge that poverty, stigma, lack of
information and weak health infrastructures, hinder our quest in
Southern Africa to succeed in fighting this epidemic. We have been
less willing to acknowledge and to break our silence regarding the
sexual behaviour and the gender inequalities that drive the
epidemic.

Unlike the communicable killer diseases we have encountered most
often in the past, HIV is transmitted through the most intimate and
private human relationships, through sexual violence and commercial
sex; it proliferates mostly because of women's poverty and
inequality.

In Mozambique, the overall rate of HIV infection among girls and
young women estimated at 15 per cent, is twice that of boys their
age, not because the girls are promiscuous, but because nearly 3
out of 5 are married by age 18, 40 per cent of them to much older,
sexually experienced men who may expose their wives to HIV/AIDS and
other sexually transmitted diseases. Similar patterns are common in
other nations where HIV is rapidly spreading. Abstinence is not an
option for these child brides. Those who try to negotiate condom
use commonly face violence or rejection. And in heterosexual sex,
girls and women are biologically more vulnerable to infection than
boys or men.

Accordingly, we must give special attention to vulnerable groups
such as women and young people, girls in particular. We are
striving to provide the necessary information and skills that will
empower them to protect themselves. We must summon the courage to
talk frankly and constructively about sexuality. We must recognize
the pressures on our children to have sex that is neither safe nor
loving. We must provide them with information, communication skills
and, yes, condoms.

My Government cannot overemphasize the need for girls and women to
be empowered in the fight against HIV/AIDS, given their vital role
in our society. The struggle against HIVlAIDS will fail if women
and their rights are not brought to the forefront.

Similarly, the manner in which people living with HIV/AIDS are
treated is a matter of great concern for us. This is an issue that
requires urgent action by the Governments through enacting and
implementing appropriate legislation to protect this important
segment of the population. I take this opportunity to announce that
our parliament will be debating in the near future legislation
aimed at protecting the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS. We
do so because we believe it is the Government's responsibility to
ensure the protection of every segment of the society without
discrimination. By the same token, we also believe that the voice
of those affected by the pandemic must be heard and taken into
consideration.

Our country stands right at the bottom of the global wealth pyramid
and yet Mozambicans are still willing, perhaps at times
miraculously, to stand and walk through every trial.

Since HIV/AIDS is a global problem that calls for a global solution
and action, this special session must call on those countries that
managed to halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, as well as
those in a position to do so, to support countries in need. Future
generations depend upon our decisions. We, the leaders gathered
here, have the means and ways to deliver a bright and safe future
for our children. We must not leave for tomorrow, the current
unsustainable global patterns of poverty, debt, and the shameful
and immoral prices demanded for drugs and medicines to treat
HIV/AIDS.

My delegation would like to commend the United Nations family for
the proposed creation of the Global Fund to Fight Against HIV/AIDS.
Given the immensity of the problem and the urgency of the task at
hand, we would like to urge those in a position to do so to
contribute to the fund expeditiously, while emphasizing on four
critical points:

1. The additional nature of the resources allocated to the fund, to
ensure that resources are not taken away from current development
programmes for fighting poverty;

2. Access to such fund should not be subject to a cumbersome
bureaucratic mechanism and should be aimed at enhancing national
capacities of recipient countries;

3. The management of the fund should be transparent so that those
in need can benefit effectively from it;

4. No commitment we declare today will achieve the desired results
if adequate resources are not provided consistently and sustained
over time.

*************************************************************

Excerpts from Statement By His Excellency President Olusegun
Obasanjo [president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria] 25 June,
2001

Mr. President, it is distressing to note that Africa, a continent
already crippled with problems of underdevelopment, poverty, food
scarcity, internal conflicts, and the heavy burden of external
debt, is the hardest hit by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. According to the
Secretary General's report, Africa is home to 70 per cent of adults
and 80 per cent of children living with HIV. It is also home to
three quarters of the nearly 22 million people worldwide that have
died of AIDS since the epidemic began. Today, out of more than 36
million people worldwide living with AIDS, over 25 million are to
be found in Africa. There is a growing population of children
orphaned by AIDS, and of the world's 13 million of such children,
over 12 million are in Africa.

Mr. President, with this trend in statistics, the future of our
continent is bleak, to say the least, and the prospect of
extinction of the entire population of a continent looms larger and
larger. We do not have any choice but to contemplate exceptional
measures to contain the spread and devastation of HIV/AIDS.

The Abuja Summit produced a Declaration On HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis
and Other Related Infectious Diseases, as well as a Framework Plan
of Action for the implementation of the Declaration:

In taking the above steps, we in Africa are conscious of the need
for additional assistance from the international community in
support of the global dimension of the war against HIV/AIDS. The
undeniable fact is that, with the fragility of our economies, we
simply lack capacity to adequately respond to the magnitude of
HIV/AIDS epidemic.

We are encouraged by the success story in the industrialised
countries where HIV/AIDS is being reasonably controlled, and urge
the international community to make a firm commitment to helping
Africa achieve similar results. We support the initiative of the UN
Secretary General to create a Global AIDS Fund, to fight HIV/AIDS
and other diseases related to it. The Fund, which is to be
capitalized by the donor community to the tune of seven to ten
billion US dollars, would focus on prevention, with special
attention to treatment through the provision of drugs at affordable
prices by the leading international pharmaceutical companies. Let
the administration and management of this Fund be the concern and
responsibility of the UN Secretary-General, the donors and indeed
all stakeholders, especially the victims who know where the shoe
pinches.

Furthermore, the circumstance and the situation of HIV/AIDS
underscore our call for total cancellation of Africa's debts in
favour of investment in the social sector. Mr. President, if we are
to be true partners in development, the debt issue must be
addressed in a comprehensive manner that frees our resources to
enable us fight the scourge of HIV/AIDS, as well as meet our other
social obligations to our people.

Mr. President, I wish to make a plea for the millions who are
already infected with the HIV virus. These people, referred to as
`people living with HIV', require primary attention. I will include
here the millions of children orphaned by the disease. This Special
Session must therefore consider and adopt a comprehensive approach
that accords priority to:

* the treatment and improvement of life for infected persons; * the
prevention of mother-to-child transmission; and * adequate welfare
and provision for AIDS orphans so that they can grow up into normal
members of the society.

Let us come up with a programme that respects and saves `People
Living with AIDS' as part of humanity. Let us help them to overcome
the stigma of society, and they can join the crusade against
further spread of the killer disease.

*************************************************************

Excerpts from Statement By: Hon. Eriya Kategaya First Deputy Prime
Minister/minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uganda, 25
June, 2001

Uganda was the "epicentre" of the epidemic in the mid 1980s. Today,
our country is frequently cited as a "success story". Whereas we
have made a considerable dent in the epidemic, we regard this
merely as modest "progress". We have not yet achieved "success".
There is, therefore, no room for complacency.

HIV prevalence in Uganda has declined from an average of 18.5% in
1993 to 8.3% in 1999, and 6.2% in 2000. Today, there are more than
1.4 million Ugandans infected in a population of only 22 million.
Close to 1.0 million people have died, leaving behind more than 1.7
million orphaned children below the age of 15 years. Over 30,000
babies are born annually with HIV from their infected mothers.

By the very nature, the disease deprives us of the most productive
segment of the population. There is loss of GDP of 0.9 annually.
Our health systems are over-stretched. The epidemic poses a grave
health burden and a severe socio-economic problem.

Our people have grappled with the disease for nearly 20 years. We,
therefore, largely know what works. Our country responded
courageously at different levels: in the political and policy
arena, the technical and scientific field and among civil society
and grass-root communities. I salute them all.

Above all, I salute the Ugandan Network and Associations of People
Living with HIV/AIDS, who have come out openly. Their advocacy and
campaigns have made a tremendous contribution to our progress in
the fight against HIV/AIDS.

A number of factors were clearly unique in our response to this
pandemic:

Uganda recognised at an early stage that HIV/AIDS is a
multi-dimensional problem which requires a multi-sectoral approach
for the political, cultural, economic and health/clinical
perspectives.

Like in all other countries, at the beginning there was fear and
panic, then denial, stigma and discrimination. These are now
dramatically reduced.

President Museveni personally led community mobilisation campaigns,
speaking about AIDS at every opportunity. The President also
adopted the attitude of openness about the disease. He urged all
our leaders to put AIDS on their political agenda, and technical
experts to provide correct information to the public. The NRM
Administration actively encouraged public debate about AIDS-related
activities.

The involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS was critical in the
mobilisation and awareness campaign.

Our country is poised to intensify, expand and accelerate
activities that have proved effective. We have integrated AIDS
issues in the national priority programme, under the Poverty
Eradication Action Plan. This implies that debt relief HIPC funds
will, inter alia, be dedicated to AIDS activities. Due to our dire
need for HIV/AIDS strategic interventions, we have had to borrow
World Bank funds to support our programme for scaling up. The
estimated cost to scale up our response is well above US$50 million
per year. The Bank loan of US$10 million per year is clearly
inadequate.

We are expanding and integrating antiretroviral therapy into the
regular health system, starting with prevention of mother to child
transmission of HIV. Our Health Ministry has already started
preparing for proper provision of Antiretrovirals. The greatest
obstacle is, clearly, the cost of effective drugs. We urge the
international community to continue searching for strategies to
access these drugs. We appreciate the efforts of Pharmaceutical
companies so far, but more must be done.

Uganda has pledged US$2 million as a contribution to the Global
Fund for AIDS and Health. It is my honest opinion that richer
countries should contribute according to what is proportionate to
their resources. We need to ensure effective and efficient
mechanism to access these funds through the appropriate UN agency
- UNAIDS which has the technical competence.

*************************************************************

Excerpts from Statement by Dr T. J. Stamps the Honourable Minister
of Health and Child Welfare of the Republic of Zimbabwe, 25 June
2001

We have achieved, as a nation two internationally recognised
acclaimed successes which we continue to prioritize.

1. Ensuring and maintaining, since the earliest days of the
epidemic (1985) a sustainable safe national blood transfusion
service.

2. The highest coverage, of any country in the world, of reliable
condoms (18 per male per annum since 1994).

We are compelled to inform Mr. Nazios (the new director of USAID)
that, though we may not have clocks or roads in Africa, we do know
the time and time is ticking away inexorably for some of our
states.

We know that antiretrovirals are only a part of the solution to the
problem, but while they are denied to us the message of prevention,
especially knowing one's HIV status, is inadequately supported.

We have had enough of the discriminatory stigmatising attitude of
the rich towards the poor and the inequality which propagates the
virus.

************************************************************

Excerpts from Statement By The President of the United Republic of
Tanzania, His Excellency Benjamin William Mkapa, 26 June 2001

Of all the human rights, the most basic is the right to life, a
life in dignity. Never before in Africa has this most basic of all
rights been under greater siege. But the HIV/AIDS pandemic is a
global crisis. Combined with TB and malaria, it is threatening the
very existence of certain groups of the human race, testing our
common humanity to the limit and challenging the content and
integrity of our civilisation.

That most of the Heads of State and Government attending this
Special Session are from developing countries is a testament to the
obvious--that it is us who are most affected; that it is us who
must lead the way; that it is us who need the greatest
international support; and that it is us who dare to hope that this
Special Session will produce not only a Declaration but practical
commitments of urgent support as well.

We acknowledge that the primary responsibility in the war on
HIV/AIDS rests with each country. And we are here to commit
ourselves before the world to do our part.

It is one thing for Africa to assume leadership and ownership of
this holistic and integrated approach, and quite another to get it
operational and produce results. For, the cost of implementation is
patently prohibitive and overwhelming, especially as we have
another war front, that against poverty. We are here to appeal for
greater partnership and more help, with new resources, not
repackaged existing aid programmes.

For a country like Tanzania, even developing the national capacity
to effectively and efficiently treat all Sexually Transmitted
Diseases, TB, Malaria, and opportunistic infections on our own is
impossible; so is the prospect of building the national capacity
for blood screening, for widespread HIV testing and counselling,
for measuring viral loads in patients, for the infrastructure to
deliver and monitor the dispensation of anti-retroviral drugs, and
finally the cost of the anti-retroviral drugs themselves. We thank
those pharmaceutical companies that have agreed to offer the drugs
at cost. But for Tanzania, where half of the people live on less
than a dollar a day, drugs that cost a dollar a day remain only a
dream for most of the victims.

The world has never faced a greater threat to the human race, not
even during the World Wars. In what we agree to do, or not to do,
we are defining and redefining the content and limits of our
humanity, and the arbiter will be the future for those that will
remain to tell the story.

There are those who say cheap drugs are not a priority for Africa.
We also don't think they are a panacea. But we say they are
important. Every life they extend is as important in Africa as it
is in rich countries. For every baby that is saved from being
infected from its mother, we are building the foundation of the
future of our continent. As of now, only one out of 2500
HIV-positive Africans is on anti-retroviral drug therapy. The rest
are left to die.

Then there are those that accuse the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi
Annan, of raising unrealistic expectations. To us, that is not the
problem. The real problem is lack of political will among some of
the rich countries and corporations. If rich countries can spend
over USD 300 billion a year to subsidize agriculture which accounts
for less than 10% of their GDP, and if they could spend over USD
100 billion on Y2K, they can surely spare USD 10 billion for the
Global Fund to save and prolong the lives of tens of millions of
poor people.

No, the Secretary-General is not raising unrealistic expectations;
he is only asking the world to do what is in its collective power
to achieve in partnership, in human solidarity, to save millions of
lives, particularly in Africa, thus safeguarding the continent's
future.

************************************************************
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