PRESS BRIEFING BY UNAIDS, GLOBAL FUND TO FIGHT AIDS, TUBERCULOSIS AND MALARIA

A small but encouraging number of countries were beginning to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS, but the epidemic had continued to expand worldwide, Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) told correspondents at a Headquarters briefing today.  (For opening remarks by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, see Press Release SG/SM/9906.)

Speaking during a one-day high-level meeting to review progress in implementing the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, Mr. Piot said he was optimistic about future progress against the virus.  That would require world leaders to pay the same attention to HIV/AIDS as global security; ensure universal access to both treatment and prevention; implement programmes to show that funding worked for people on the ground; and see the epidemic both as an emergency and a long-term threat.

“It is clear now that HIV/AIDS will be with us for decades, that no quick fix will work”, said Mr. Piot, who was joined by Richard Feachem, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.  Not only must the international community search for vaccines and microbicides, but also realize that the hundreds of thousands now living with or being treated for HIV/AIDS could turn into millions.  “That means thinking of 20, 30, or 40 years of treatment, because that’s why we’re doing this, to make sure that people stay alive.”

Outlining the financial needs to fight HIV/AIDS, Feachem stressed the need to substantially increase funding for prevention, testing, treatment, and care for HIV/AIDS orphans.  “That money must be absolutely rock-solid, absolutely predicable, and absolutely sustainable.  Otherwise, those people will die within a few weeks of the termination of their treatment.”

He noted that the three major sources of finance for HIV/AIDS programmes were the United States PETFAR initiative (the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief), the World Bank, and the Global Fund.  As for the Global Fund, it faced a serious refinancing challenge in meeting its quotas of $2.3 billion for 2005, $3.5 billion for 2006 and $3.6 billion for 2007 for programmes in 130 countries.  The upcoming G-8 Summit in Glen Eagles and the Okinawa + 5 Conference (a follow-up to the original Okinawa conference that invented the Fund) in Tokyo at the end of June would be vital in meeting those needs.

Adding that a Global Fund replenishment mechanism chaired by Secretary-General Kofi Annan was now under way, he said a group of concerned donors had just met in Stockholm, would be meeting in Rome in two weeks and then would gather for a climax event hosted in London by United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair during the first week of September.  “That is the time when most of the major donors to the Global Fund will come forward with their firm commitments for 2006 and 2007.”

Asked whether such religions as Christianity, Islam and Judaism in the Middle East were part of the problem or the solution in fighting HIV/AIDS, Mr. Piot said they were definitely part of the solution, due to their impact on people’s lives and behaviour.  Obstacles to tackling the disease still existed in the region, but it was more open than it had been 30 years ago, and enormous progress had been made.

Such hindrances included unsanitary injection of drugs, as well as unprotected sex, he added, but a new movement was now afoot to fight stigma and discrimination, and to encourage the use of condoms.  Efforts were also moving forward to make self-defence more acceptable for married women combating domestic violence.

Asked by another correspondent whether contributions from some nations came with “strings” attached, Mr. Feachem said any bilateral conditions attached to funding fell away once it went through the Global Fund.  Money was dispersed according to Fund policies, rather than preferences in Stockholm, Tokyo, Washington or other capitals.

To another query about debt relief and HIV/AIDS, Mr. Piot said the Global Fund had explored “debt swaps” for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria investments.  The Fund was looking at debt relief models that would lead to investments equal to debt payments in programmes approved by the Fund for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

Another correspondent asked whether the Millennium Goal of halting and beginning to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015 was still a realistic goal.  Mr. Piot responded that the objective could still be met in many individual countries, but not for the world as a whole.  The epidemic was still spreading in Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa, although increased funding would certainly have a measurable impact.

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