Summary: June 25, 2001: Final EU Statement at UNGASS on HIV/AIDS. Statement by Mr. Lars Engqvist, Swedish Minister for Health and Social Affairs, on behalf of the European Union (New York)
Mr Chairman, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Central and Eastern European countries associated with the EU, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Rumania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the associated countries Cyprys, Malta and Turkey., align themselves with this statement.
I have come here, not primarily to present the specific interests of the European Union. I am here to pledge that we make history together by adopting the first UN declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. But the true history-making does not lie in the adoption of the declaration but in the translation of these commitments into local, national, regional and global reality.
The EU commits itself to shoulder its share of the responsibility to make this ambition come true.
Today we know a lot about HIV/AIDS.
We know of the devastating effects of the epidemic - for the individual and for societies.
We know of the even more terrifying prospects for the future if we stand idle.
We know how to protect ourselves from the virus, and we know how to prolong and enhance the lives of the ones who have already contracted the disease.
We know that some groups of people are more vulnerable to HIV than others.
Yet, in the few minutes I speak, more than 70 persons will get infected with HIV and another 35 will die from AIDS.
This has to change!
This is what it is all about, to transform our common knowledge into concrete action. This requires courage and vision by national leaders. It requires tremendous efforts by local communities and civil society and it requires commitment and solidarity by the international community, public and private.
Together we can and will achieve a change!
Tackling HIV/AIDS is not a hopeless endeavour. Countries such as Uganda, Thailand and Senegal have proven that even in the hardest hit cases, the tide of HIV/AIDS can be stabilised or reversed. Developed countries in Europe, North America and Australia have likewise demonstrated successes in prevention and treatment. These cases tell a great deal about what must be done to contain and reverse the pandemic.
Leadership at all levels, resource mobilisation, and a willingness to include all segments of society into the fight against HIV/AIDS have repeatedly proven to be central to success. Harmful and prejudiced attitudes within our societies have to change and the change should start at the top. Stigma, silence, discrimination and denial, as well as lack of confidentiality, undermine prevention and care efforts. Realisation of human rights reduces the vulnerability to HIV.
As we pass into the third decade of this pandemic, we have repeatedly learned that we must speak openly about the epidemic and to implement public health prevention and care interventions that honestly take into account who and how individuals are at greatest risk for transmission of HIV.
HIV is to a large part sexually transmitted. It is absolutely crucial for an effective response to the epidemic that sexuality is addressed in an open and straightforward manner.
We must take effective measures to ensure that people everywhere, particularly young people, know how to protect themselves from being infected and we have to facilitate access to education on sex and interpersonal relations and to services and methods of prevention. This should be the mainstay of HIV programs.
We must ensure access for all to information about HIV/AIDS in order to avoid being infected. Groups particularly vulnerable to HIV such as men who have sex with men, men and women involved in prostitution and commercial sex, injecting drug users, prisoners, mobile populations, migrants and others that are difficult to reach with information must be specially targeted by prevention efforts.
Gender equality and the empowerment of women are fundamental elements in the reduction of the vulnerability of women and girls to HIV/AIDS. The unequal power relationships between women and men, in which women often do not have the power to insist on safe sex, endanger the health of women and girls. Every woman and girl has the right to decide freely over her own sexuality and to say "No!" to unwanted and unprotected sex. Innovative strategies are needed to reach men with HIV/AIDS information
and services that take into account the roles of men in sexuality, fatherhood and male identity.
Approximately 600.000 children are born with HIV each year, the majority of whom will die within five years. It is essential to provide pregnant women with information, counseling and other HIV prevention services, such as effective treatment to reduce mother-to-child-transmission of HIV.
Further efforts are necessary to reduce the impact of conflict and natural disasters on the spread of HIV/AIDS. The capacity of peacekeepers to become advocates and actors for awareness and prevention of HIV/AIDS should be developed.
Mr Chairman,
Prevention and treatment are complementary pillars of the expanded response to AIDS, and care and support are inextricably linked to effective prevention. Prevention remains the mainstay of the expanded response in all regions.
One necessary step of improving the situation for the ones already infected and the ones most at risk of being infected is to strengthen primary health care systems. This should include provision of voluntary counseling and testing. The strengthening of the general health of a population, such as treating sexually transmitted diseases, may well be one of the most effective prevention measures.
The prospects for making HIV medicines available to large groups of HIV-infected patients in low-resource settings are improving significantly. This brings hope of better protecting life and human dignity. But we must not forget that drugs are only a part of the solution to stop the epidemic. There is a need to strengthen health systems' capacity to administer HIV-medicines properly and equitably. All countries have to ensure quality of care both in hospitals and in outpatient services in order
to avoid the development of significant drug resistance and severe adverse reactions.
We must not ignore the dual epidemics of TB and HIV. As HIV/AIDS increasingly expands, so does the prevalence of tuberculosis. We must address both epidemics if we are to ensure the health and safety of millions of people. treatment for TB involves generic drugs and proven methods that require appropriate attention and support.
Further research for cheaper and more effective treatment to combat the symptoms of the disease is necessary. The world also has to increase its efforts to develop effective and safe vaccines and microbicides.
Mr Chairman,
Poor people are the most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. They are also the ones least equipped to cope with the effects of the epidemic. The heaviest burden of AIDS is therefore borne by the poor and AIDS drives countries and people further into poverty. To reverse the spread of the disease we must reduce poverty!
To this end the EU in May adopted a programme for accelerated action on HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis - addressing prevention, care and support. Support for prevention and both sustainable and equitable health systems are key priorities for the Union. The new programme for action contains three pillars: increasing the impact of existing interventions to prevent and treat communicable diseases; improving the affordability of key pharmaceuticals through inter alia a broader application of
effective global tiered pricing of medicines and promotion of viable and sustainable production, for the benefit of affected developing countries; and supporting research and development of specific global public goods, such as medicines and vaccines, to confront these diseases.
These challenges can not be met without new, additional and sustained resources. The European Union therefore fully welcomes the proposal as presented by the Secretary General and several donor countries to establish a global HIV/AIDS and health fund. We believe that the fund should tackle the three major communicable diseases: HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Activities by the fund must be focused on the delivery of health outcomes, and should therefore include, besides prevention, also
access to care and treatment. The fund must complement on-going and long-term support to strengthen health sytstem and should bulid upon poverty reduction strategies.
Together with the international community, the EU commits itself to strengthen the efforts to combat these major threats to life and development and to contribute significantly to the Fund once agreement has been reached on the establishment of such a fund.
The EU recognises and emphasises the vital role and essential contribution of civil society actors in the fight against HIV/AIDS, in particular people living with HIV/AIDS. They must be included in the development and implementation of programmes to the maximum extent possible. The EU recognises the crucial role played by civil society, UNAIDS and others, and strongly commends their devoted work. Accordingly the EU attaches great importance to be able at this Special Session to listen to the
contributions of representatives of civil society.
Today leaders of the world have gathered here in New York to pledge our commitment to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
We must make sure that we go forward from here.
We must speak out.
We must scale up our responses.
We must commit more resources.
Most important of all, we must show leadership.
Let us make history together!
Mr Chairman, I thank you.
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