PRESS BRIEFING ON SECRETARY-GENERAL’S HIV/AIDS REPORT

Leadership was the single most important factor in reversing the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the Deputy Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said this afternoon at a Headquarters press briefing, as she presented the report of the Secretary-General issued in preparation for the General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, which will be held in New York from 25 to 27 June.

The Secretary-General's report (document A/55/779) would be the only document before the Session and would form the basis of discussions preceding it, Kathleen Cravero told correspondents.  The General Assembly had decided to convene the Special Session on HIV/AIDS in recognition of the fact that the epidemic posed the greatest challenge of the century.  The slogan for the Session, "Global Crisis -- Global Action" was chosen because HIV/AIDS affected all nations and all sectors of society.  The Session would review the global crisis in all its aspects, with the goal of increasing political commitment, strengthening coordination efforts and raising the resources to combat the epidemic in all its dimensions.

Therese Gastaut, Director of the Public Affairs Division, Department of Public Information, who introduced Ms. Cravero, said the report marked a new phase in the preparatory process for the Special Session.  As was the case with the Millennium Summit, no preparatory committee had been created for the HIV/AIDS Special Session.  The preparatory process for the Special Session consisted of informal meetings of the General Assembly, which had already started with consideration of organizational arrangements for the Session.  "The report of the Secretary-General is an important building block toward the success of the Special Session", she said.

Ms. Cravero said that the Special Session on HIV/AIDS would be a concrete follow-up to the Millennium Summit.  The Session would follow an innovative process of informal consultations, which would lead to plenary sessions and round-table discussions on key topics.  The Secretary-General's report would be the only document prepared for the Special Session, and one document would result from the Session.  The Secretary-General's report included an overview of the epidemic and responses to it at the global, regional and national levels.  It also summarized lessons-learned in the struggle to combat the disease, and provided an outline of the major challenges currently facing the world.

While the report confirmed that Africa was the hardest hit region, with some 3.8 million infections in 2001 alone, it also described the explosive potential -- in terms of people -- if the epidemic was not brought under control in Asia, she said.  Outside of sub-Saharan Africa, the highest infection rates had taken place in the Caribbean region.  Dramatic trends had also taken place in Eastern Europe and the countries of the former Soviet Union.  Even in countries with low prevalence, steep increases that had taken place last year could continue this year.  Although the availability of anti-retroviral drugs had lessened the number of fatalities from HIV/AIDS in high-income countries, complacency had set in due to the availability of drugs.

Continuing, she said that the report indicated that action now could prevent an even greater outbreak of the epidemic in the future.  The magnitude of the problem was even greater than anyone could have imagined just 10 years ago.  Although capacity and commitment to combat the disease had increased, greater effort was still needed.  The Secretary-General also found that prevention worked and that stronger efforts were needed to ensure wider and cheaper access to care and treatment.  HIV/AIDS was not gender-neutral.  In most countries, women had been hit the hardest and faced the greatest challenges.  In countries that had been successful in handling the epidemic, people living with HIV/AIDS had been involved in all aspects of the process.  Combating the stigma attached with HIV/AIDS was a human rights imperative and constituted a critical element for successful responses to the epidemic.

She said the Secretary-General also outlined three critical areas that required increased efforts -- leadership, cross-sectoral coordination and adequate resources.  At present, the resources available were less than one-fifth of what was needed in Africa alone.  Challenges confronting the international community included the need for increased political leadership, especially at the national level.  Leadership was the greatest single factor in assuring an effective response.

In the report, she said that Member States were asked to consider ways to alleviate the social and economic impact of the virus, to reduce vulnerability, to address gender inequity and exclusion of marginalized groups and to work to achieve targets already in place.  Another challenge was to ensure that care and support was available to people both infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, especially in developing countries, where some 95 per cent of the people affected by the virus lived.

Relevant and effective international commodities must also be developed, she added.  Such commodities included a vaccine for the virus and laboratory equipment for testing.  Mobilizing the necessary level of financial resources was critical.

The Secretary-General had basically suggested that Member States use the June Special Session as the time to "draw a line in the sand" and take the response to the epidemic to a new level, she said.  The Special Session could make a permanent difference in the way the world responded to HIV/AIDS.

Was it possible that HIV/AIDS was a genetically-engineered disease? a correspondent asked.  Ms. Cravero said that the science was clear and had been effectively demonstrated.  UNAIDS proceeded on that basis and would not suggest that it was the result of any kind of genetic engineering.

Asked to comment on how the report addressed the situation in Africa, Ms. Cravero said the report discussed the epidemiological situation in Africa and responses launched in individual countries, regionally and subregionally to combat the epidemic.  The best-known success cases included Uganda and Senegal.  Effective programmes had also made a difference in Zambia.  In Uganda, HIV/AIDS prevalence had decreased from 14 to 8 per cent, mainly because of effective political leadership, widespread prevention programmes and attention to increased access to care and treatment.  Through a combination of efforts, dramatic success had been made against the disease.

Asked to respond to the dichotomy between development and treatment, Ms. Cravero said that the Secretary-General's report emphasized that care and treatment must be looked at in a comprehensive way.  "The availability of drugs was not a magic bullet", she said.  Unfortunately, there was no magic bullet.  The availability of drugs was extremely important in a continuum of care that must include better home care and better treatment of sexually transmitted infections, as well as opportunistic infections.  With better health infrastructures, drugs could be made available to populations more rapidly and safely.  However, a comprehensive approach was needed.  One could not wait until health infrastructures improved before making drugs available. 

Why did people infected with HIV/AIDS in the developed countries live, when people with the same disease in Africa died? a correspondent asked.  Both the quality of treatment and the availability of anti-retroviral drugs were big factors, she said.  Ultimately, greater survivability was due to a combination of factors.  Drugs were not the only factor.  Although anti-retroviral drugs slowed the progression of the illness, there was no cure.

Ms. Cravero said that the first round of informal consultations, to be held from 26 February to 2 March, would focus on the Secretary-General's report.  The second set of informal consultations would be held from 21 to 26 May.  That session would focus on the Declaration of Commitment, the outcome document of the Special Session, which she hoped, would be adopted by consensus.

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