HIV/AIDS EPIDEMIC ONE OF MOST SERIOUS THREATS AND CHALLENGES FOR NEXT MILLENNIUM, DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL STATES

10 November 1998

Press Release
DSG/SM/29
POP/688

HIV/AIDS EPIDEMIC ONE OF MOST SERIOUS THREATS AND CHALLENGES FOR NEXT MILLENNIUM, DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL STATES

19981110 Louise Fréchette, Opening UN Meeting on Demographic Impact of AIDS, Stresses Need To Reverse Alarming Impact of AIDS on Population Estimates

Following is the statement of Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette -- which was delivered by the Director of the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs -- to the opening of the United Nations Technical Meeting on the Demographic Impact of HIV/AIDS, held at Headquarters today:

I am grateful for the opportunity to address this technical meeting and to reiterate to the international community the seriousness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic which the world is facing. The HIV/AIDS epidemic continues unabated, especially in developing countries and in particular in sub-Saharan Africa. It is a global human tragedy, which denies to the millions of its victims the benefits of humanity's greatest achievement -- a healthy, long life. This indeed is one of the most serious threats and challenges for the next millennium.

According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) report released in June of this year, well over 30 million people are currently infected by the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV). More than two thirds of those infected reside in sub-Saharan Africa. In the last three years alone, many countries have seen the number of persons living with HIV double.

In many African countries, AIDS has increased infant and child mortality and reduced life expectancy at birth to levels observed in the 1960s or even the 1950s. The United Nations Population Division, which had incorporated the demographic impact of HIV/AIDS into each of its biennial Revisions of world population estimates and projections since 1992, projects that sub-Saharan Africa will lose more than 60 million people to AIDS by the year 2015. In this region, AIDS is now threatening the economic and social development gains that have been so painfully achieved during the past 30 years.

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Recently, President Nelson Mandela has said that the South African economy is shrinking by 1 per cent a year because of AIDS. This is indeed staggering. However, the costs are not just a matter of economics. The AIDS tragedy is a disease of profound personal and family dimensions, undermining the social structure of societies -- it sends orphaned children searching for work and turns grandparents into parents.

The long lag between HIV infection, AIDS and death -- more that 10 years on average -- may explain why many countries have yet to experience the enormous impact the epidemic can have on their social and economic fabric and on their family structures. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has been at the forefront in the fight against the disease, and has achieved many successes in raising the awareness on the seriousness of the AIDS epidemic and in involving government authorities in this issue. As stated by Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS, "it would be a mistake for anyone to underestimate the magnitude of the effort required to bring the epidemic under control. But ... it would be an even bigger mistake to assume that we are not in a position to mobilize the necessary global response".

The Secretary-General, in his address to the Administrative Coordination Committee (ACC), reiterated the importance he attaches to the fight against HIV/AIDS. As stated by the Secretary-General: "the fight against AIDS has to be energized. We cannot, as a system, not react".

Ladies and Gentlemen, you should, therefore, understand the importance of technical meetings such as this. The Secretary-General has stressed the importance of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, especially in African countries, and the need for a stronger response in the fight against the disease. As technical experts, it is your responsibility to provide the international community and the public reliable information on the magnitude and dynamics of the AIDS pandemic.

The official population estimates and projections in the United Nations system provided by the Population Division show an alarming impact of AIDS. The Secretary-General and I believe that it is the responsibility of the international community to reverse these trends. It will require our collective capacity to radically slow this epidemic and to prevent tens of millions of infections over the next decade.

We wish you success in this meeting.

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