UN WORKSHOP ON HIV/AIDS, ADULT MORTALITY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TO BE HELD AT HEADQUARTERS, 8 - 13 SEPTEMBER

Note to Correspondents

UN WORKSHOP ON HIV/AIDS, ADULT MORTALITY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

TO BE HELD AT HEADQUARTERS, 8 - 13 SEPTEMBER

      The Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs is organizing a workshop on HIV/AIDS and Adult Mortality in Developing Countries, which will be held from 8 to 13 September at United Nations Headquarters.

The workshop is a unique combination of a technical meeting and a training activity for African government officials working in the area of HIV/AIDS in some of the countries most affected by the epidemic.  Its objective is to provide the trainees with a good understanding of the broad demographic aspects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and to make them aware of the importance of effectively communicating research results on population and HIV/AIDS.

Since 1981, when the first cases of AIDS were diagnosed, the world has been facing the deadliest epidemic in contemporary history.  By the end of 2002, more than 65 million persons had been infected with HIV.  AIDS has become the fourth most important cause of death in the world among adults and it is the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa.  The HIV/AIDS epidemic has erased decades of progress in combating mortality and has seriously compromised the living conditions of current and future generations.  The epidemic is threatening the social fabric of societies in the most affected countries and it is eroding social and economic safety nets.

Despite the spread of the epidemic, there is much uncertainty surrounding both the estimated prevalence of the disease on different populations and the path it will follow in the future.  The course of the disease, in particular, depends on how individuals, nations and the world respond to the HIV/AIDS threat today and tomorrow.

The workshop will focus on presentations by experts and active discussions between trainees and experts on technical and measurement aspects of HIV/AIDS and adult mortality, in general.  It will also include discussions on ways to improve communication, especially through the mass media.  The social and economic effects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic will also be discussed, in conjunction with related policies and programmes.

The last two days of the workshop will be devoted to a discussion on opportunities and constraints in the use of demographic information as an advocacy tool in the countries represented.  Relevant agencies, funds and programmes, including the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as other experts from universities and research centres, have been invited to the training workshop.  United Nations correspondents and representatives of the Department of Public Information (DPI) will also address the workshop.

Next week’s workshop brings together government officials working in the area of HIV/AIDS from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Namibia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland and Uganda.

Additional information, including technical papers and a list of participants, is available at the Web site of the Population Division, at:  http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/adultmort/Adultmortality.htm.

Participants to the meeting are available for interviews.  For more information and for requests for interviews, please contact Joseph Chamie, Director, Population Division, at (212) 963-3179; or Rolando Gomez, Department of Public Information, at (212) 963-2744.

* *** *