Rallying Cry In AIDS Battle
Declaring the AIDS epidemic "a test of leadership," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and African leaders on Thursday pledged to unite their political and economic resources to conquer the disease.
"We are here because we are determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of AIDS, which in a fraction of our lifetime has brought unimaginable sorrow to Africa and the world," Annan told a U.N. conference on AIDS that brought together more than 1,500 African leaders, policy makers and international donors.
In the last two decades, 13.7 million out of the 16.3 million people killed by AIDS have been Africans, depriving the poverty-stricken continent of productive workers and reducing economic growth.
"We face a terrible epidemic, but we are far from powerless against it. We can halt the spread of AIDS. We can reverse it," Annan said.
Uganda, which once had the highest AIDS rate in the world, organized a public awareness campaign that has resulted in the HIV infection rate dropping from 30 percent in the early 1990s to about 8 percent last year, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said.
"If we could work together in the liberation struggle against colonialism, if we could conquer apartheid together, why can't we conquer HIV/AIDS?" Museveni said.
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"Can all of us honestly say that we have assigned, instructed and mobilized our best professionals to move with the speed and sustained determination to deal with this as the greatest development emergency of our time?" Mogae said, calling on African natins to divert funding from the military to fight AIDS.
The conference heard that most Africans cannot afford anti-retroviral drugs to treat the HIV virus that causes AIDS.
"Since 24.5 million out of 34.3 million people living with AIDS are in sub-Saharan Africa, we are, potentially, big customers. The market for ARV drugs is here," Uganda's Museveni said.
He disagreed with the notion that the companies should reduce the costs of the drugs, because it would discourage further research.
"Instead, I propose that African countries should combine efforts and reimburse the money the successful pharmaceutical companies spent on research and development, plus a negotiated profit level. Thereafter, the drug companies should lower the prices," he said.
Mogae said Africa should unite in negotiating affordable prices for all drugs in a comprehensive care package.
Annan said the gathering, organized by the U.N. Commission for Africa, was a breakthrough in fighting AIDS. The secretary-general was on an eight-day tour of Africa that will end Saturday in Eritrea.
A recent update on the progress of the disease found that worldwide, 5.3 million people will be newly infected with H.I.V. in 2000 and that 3 million will die of AIDS.
Africa is home to 70 percent of the adults and 80 percent of the children living with H.I.V. in the world.
In sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 25.3 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, and the U.N. predicts 3.8 million new infections this year and 2.4 million deaths.
The epidemic's impact extends beyond fatalities. An October report by the Worldwatch Institute found AIDS in Africa is reducing life expectancy, raising mortality, lowering fertility, leaving more men alive than women and producing millions of orphans.
In Zimbabwe, without AIDS, life expectancy in 2010 would be 70. With AIDS, it is expected to fall below 35 years. For South Africa it will fall from 68 to 48, and for Zambia from 60 to 30.
The scope of the AIDS problem in Africa has received new attention this year from the West. In September, the World Bank approved a $500 million credit line to help Africa cope with the disease.