Secretary-General, at Side Event of High-level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, Urges

 

National Leaders to Design Strategies for Success in Ending Epidemic

 

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the General Assembly High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS side event with Heads of State and Government on AIDS, health and development, in New York on 8 June:

I am encouraged to see so many Heads of State and Government engaged in our global campaign against AIDS.  I am also honoured to welcome Ms. [Anandi] Vuruadj [representative of people living with HIV].  She is a powerful example of the kind of courage and openness that saves lives.

People living with HIV have driven this campaign from the start.  I have just come from a meeting with members of UN Plus.  They are members of my family — the UN family — who are making a difference in the fight against AIDS.  I thank you all for your advocacy and your support.

This week is about our global campaign, but AIDS is happening in communities.  Our global work supports local efforts.  That makes national ownership critical.

This morning at the General Assembly, I mentioned that Ethiopia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe — some of the hardest-hit countries — are making the most progress against the disease.  Recently, I saw this first-hand when I visited Ethiopia.  I met people there living with HIV.  I also met top Government officials, business executives and doctors.

But one of the most impressive individuals I met was a teenage girl named Mamey Getaneh.  She is a health extension worker.  She goes where the women and children are — right into their homes.  She teaches families how to prevent HIV and other diseases.

Ms. Getaneh is one of 34,000 health extension workers in Ethiopia.  Person by person, family by family, home by home, they are saving lives.  They are doing more than prevent HIV; they provide 16 services covering a range of health concerns.

Every hospital, every clinic, every health extension worker that deals with HIV also has an opportunity to address other health issues.  They can stop the spread of many infectious diseases.  They can provide information on family planning.  And they can help promote healthy habits that prevent non-communicable diseases like cancer, lung disease and diabetes.  They are on the frontlines of our campaign for health — and they are backed by an international movement that has been gathering steam for years.

AIDS has taught us how to build coalitions, how to mobilize funds and how to improve health systems.  The epidemic brought together groups that had never joined forces before — religious leaders, artists, the health community, academics, gay rights organizations, women’s groups and pharmaceutical companies, Governments and non-governmental organizations — all fighting for the same cause.

Now we have a tremendous opportunity to end this epidemic.  But an AIDS-free world requires a world of effort.  That is why I am calling on all partners to revitalize global solidarity for universal access, deliver services better and more cheaply, create robust systems to ensure accountability for every penny and every pledge, protect our women and girls, and prevent the spread of HIV.

You are the national leaders.  You know your country situations.  You have already seen tremendous progress.  Now you can reach even greater advances.  Design your own national strategy for success.  We are here to listen, to respond and to help.

The moment for ending this epidemic is now.  It has been 30 years since the world first saw AIDS.  We cannot wait 30 more years to reach our goal.  Thirty years after the first case of AIDS, we are ready to plan for the last — the last HIV infection, the last instance of discrimination, the final AIDS-related death.

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For information media • not an official record