Programme Number: 031
Week of: 16th January 2005
Recording Date: Thursday, 20 January 2005

Topical Issue(s):
" THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS: How Africa could miss the boat of world development
by more than one hundred years, unless something is done. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan says
the MDGs are not Utopian but definitely achievable?

" ERADICATING POLIO FROM AFRICA: As the crippling childhood disease polio makes a worrying resurgence in large parts of Africa, African health ministers pledge to eradicate polio by the end of this year. But can this be done?

" HIV/AIDS IN AFRICA: How the world is neglecting Africa. The UN's special envoy on HIV/AIDS for Africa compares world response to Africa to the response given to the tsunamis disaster?

NARRATOR: This is United Nations Radio from New York.

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NARRATOR:
Hello and welcome to, UN and Africa. I'm Ben Dotsei Malor.

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NARRATOR:
It could take Africa more than one hundred years to eliminate hunger, poverty and ignorance and catch up with the world. That's the assessment of some experts, but the UN Secretary-General says the Millennium Development Goals can surely help African.

CLIP 1: SG GOALS NOT UTOPIAN.
"The goals are not Utopian. They are eminently achievable "

NARRATOR:
And the UN envoy on HIV/AIDS in Africa says the world has failed to take action to help Africa, compared to response to the tsunami disaster.

CLIP 2: STEPHEN LEWIS
"I ask the question as Africans are asking, why in heaven's name can we not get our debt reduced or eliminated as has been promised and tentatively reassured."

NARRATOR:
Plus, African health ministers pledge to eradicate the crippling children's disease, polio, by the end of this year. Can this be done?
Stay tuned, and let's find out here on, UN and Africa.

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MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
THE MILLENNIUM PROJECT REPORT
NARRATOR:
The United Nations has just launched a unique report to address rising concern that many poor countries - especially some in Africa - might not be able to achieve the Millennium Development Goals or MDGs, set for the year 2015.
The goals, set by world leaders in the year 2000, are seeking, among other things, to reduce by half the number of people living in extreme poverty and improve the quality of people's lives worldwide. One of the goals also calls for all boys and girls to complete primary school through free education. Another one says child mortality among infants should be reduced by two-thirds.
But just a few days ago, the Finance Minister of the United Kingdom, Gordon Brown said that it might take more than a hundred years for African countries to achieve the Millennium Goals or MDGs.
And now, the newly launched report is proposing key steps for reaching the goals.
The report by a team of experts led by the eminent Harvard University professor Jeffrey Sachs is titled: "Investing in development: A Practical Plan to achieve the Millennium Development Goals."
UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, in launching the report, first painted a mixed picture of the progress made so far.
SG-2 AFRICA BEHIND
"Many countries, including some of the poorest … eminently achievable"
But Mr Annan stressed that these goals could be achieved.
SG-1 GOALS NOT UTOPIAN
The UN Secretary-general's optimism is shared and supported by Professor Jeffrey Sachs, who gave a very simple and practical example of one of the goals could be achieved.
SACHS ON MOSQUITO NETTING
And in the fight against hunger, Professor Sachs said valuable lessons from Asia should prove easily useful in Africa.

SACHS LESSONS FROM ASIS TO AFRICA
The eminent economist also painted a future of prosperity for all in the world.
SACHS ON PRPSERITY FOR ALL:
Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Harvard University during the recent launch of the Millennium Project report at UN headquarters in New York.
STING/JINGLE: UN AND AFRICA THEME

HIV/AIDS IN AFRICA AND THE DEVELOPED WORLD'S LACK OF RESPONSE
NARRATOR:
For Africa to catch-up in development the fight against HIV/AIDS must be won. But the developed countries have not responded to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa with the same speed and amount of resources as they have to the recent tsunami disaster. This observation has been made by the Secretary-General's Special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis who has just visited Malawi and Tanzania. Mr. Lewis, who was speaking to journalists at UN, compared the generous response to the tsunami disaster to how rich nations have responded to the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa.

CUT 1: STEPHEN LEWIS

I think it is worthy of note that in a matter of three weeks or so, the governments of the western world managed to raise between five and a half and six billion dollars as I last saw it in response to the tsunami, all of which is tremendously gratifying, I would however juxtapose the truth that in a matter of three years, not three weeks, the Global Fund on AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has received an almost identical amount of $5.9 billion in pledges.

NARRATOR:
In stating this fact, Mr. Lewis said he was not questioning the urgent need to provide resources to the victims of the tsunami disaster. But he said he has been disturbed by the world's response to the HIV/AIDS problem in Africa.
CUT 2: STEPHEN LEWIS
Obviously the money is desperate and imperative in south and south-east Asia but necessarily one has to ask the question about the balance in the world and the need for the industrial countries to respond to a tragedy that unfolds incrementally but methodically and horrifically on the African continent.

NARRATOR:
Just last year alone, HIV/AIDS claimed the lives of more than 2 million people in Africa and it's currently estimated that more than 20 million people are living with the disease in sub-Saharan Africa alone - that's more than half the world's total number of infected people. It is also widely acknowledged that apart from being a health issue HIV/AIDS is posing a serious threat to the economic development of the African continent, which still lags behind in trying to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Mr Lewis said HIV/AIDS would be a key factor if Africa is to achieve these key goals.
CUT 3: STEPHEN LEWIS
What is crucial to recognize in the context of the Millennium Development Goals report and emphasized by George Brown in his trip through Africa is that the pandemic of HIV and AIDS is bedeviling the possibility of reaching the goals in most of the African countries, certainly all of the countries of high prevalence rates.

NARRATOR:
And it's not only HIV/AIDS that stands in the way of Africa's development. Mr Lewis also identified the huge debt that African nations continue to pay back to the rich nations as another key factor that diverts badly needed financial resources from development programmes.

CUT 4: STEPHEN LEWIS
I ask the question as Africans are asking, why in heaven's name can we not get our debt reduced or eliminated as has been promised and tentatively reassured time and time again and as recently as the meeting with the international financial institutions last fall in Washington when everyone expected the African debt to be reduced or eliminated, nothing happened.

NARRATOR:
That was the United Nations Secretary-General's Special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis. In another edition of UN and Africa Mr. Lewis will talk specifically about how Malawi and Tanzania are dealing with the pandemic.

ERADICATING POLIO FROM AFRICA

NARRATOR:
The crippling disease poliomyelitis which affects many children has made resurgence in many parts of Africa where it was hoped the disease would have been eliminated completely by the end of last year. Now, eight African ministers of health have set themselves the target of eradicating polio from their countries - and other affected parts of Africa - by the end of this year. Since last year, the number of African children crippled by polio has doubled to 1037 - that's 85 per cent of the world total. This resurgence, according to the WHO, has been due largely to the refusal of some religious leaders in northern Nigeria to allow children to be immunized. The problem has also become worse because of conflicts and civil unrest, especially in Darfur, Sudan and Cote D'Ivoire.
The Coordinator of the World Health Organisation's Global Polio Eradication Initiative is Dr Bruce Aylward. In Geneva, our colleague Yvette Morris asked him how realistic it would be to expect polio to be eradicated in Africa, by the end of this year?

INTERVIEW DR AYLWARD SHORT:

BA: The Polio Eradication Initiative in Africa has been one of the most impressive in the world. In 1996 the whole continent was polio-infected and within five years they had cut it down to about two countries. Then last year, in 2004 we had a doubling of cases and a marked increase in the number of infected countries. There was great concern as to whether polio could even be eradicated from Africa. After last week's meeting where with the ministers of health we reviewed the situation, it's obvious now Africa has turned the corner and can finish polio eradication in most of these countries certainly by the year 2005.

YM: The problem started with Nigeria and the decision to halt inoculations there. What has happened now?

BA: Well last year, with the suspension of immunization campaigns in Africa the virus spread very very rapidly into twelve other countries. These countries responded by conducting immunization campaigns to get the situation back under control and synchronizing with 23 countries in total from Senegal to the Sudan to try and push polio back out of their countries outside of their borders again. Looking at the situation now it appears that the epidemic which threatened to run right into 2005 and spread beyond those countries appears to be under control. In Nigeria, in the Sudan, in Niger, in Chad, in all of these countries cases are now dropping very very rapidly giving us a very good opportunity in the first half of 2005 which is the low season to actually stop transmission in some of these countries and set the stage, so to speak, to finish it in all of those countries. But we have seen a remarkable improvement in both the circumstances of the immunization activities here and the quality of the campaign a number of children actually being immunized.

YM You mentioned optimism with regard to Sudan. Sudan and Saudi Arabia are among countries to which the virus had spread.

BA: Indeed, one of the great challenges now is Nigeria is back on track but what about the other countries where it has spread. One of the greatest concerns has been the Sudan because the virus came in right at the beginning of the high season for polio in the May, June period and then it took off. By December we had 112 children paralyzed in the Sudan and one case in Saudi Arabia directly linked to the Sudan and directly linked to the original outbreak in Nigeria. But the response in the Sudan has been extraordinary. The Sudan recognized this as a national and international health emergency. I flew down there with other people from WHO on the 21st of December. We met with government leaders, we discussed the issue. We met with the UN system, discussed the issue and it was recognized that this was a serious international health problem. And three or four days ago they launched within three weeks a massive nationwide campaign which appears to be the highest quality polio campaign ever to try and get this under control and extremely important to that has been the assistance from the head of the whole UN system there. Mr. Pronk has made it a priority to try and ensure all children are reached. And his work with the government, with the other forces has been essential to accessing and reaching all children. But the prospects are very positive. The concern is that the virus may already have spread from the Sudan into Ethiopia or into the Congo, and then we will have a much bigger problem to deal with.

YM: In spite of the commitment you cited awful lot of problems. Can we really expect to see transmission halted in another ten eleven months by the end of the year

BA: Absolutely. And the reason we can say that with some certainty is based on what's happened before. In 1999 all of western central Africa was infected with polio from Senegal right out through the Sudan. They did a concerted programme of work in the year 2000 and by 2001 polio had been eliminated from every country with the exception of northern Nigeria and the southern part of Niger. So based on what we've seen previously, based on the quality of those campaigns, it is technically feasible to stop transmission in Africa. The challenge will be getting a high enough quality of activity, reaching enough children to achieve that. And in 1999 the campaigns were very special, 1999/2000. The head of state in every country launched the campaigns and oversaw it. He put the resources of state at the disposition of the health sector to be able to reach every child. That is the kind of action that we need and that is the reason the heads of state will discuss polio at the AU summit in Abuja next week.

NARRATOR:
The Coordinator of the WHO's Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Dr Bruce Aylward, speaking in Geneva to our colleague Yvette Morris.

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NARRATOR:
And that bring us to the end of this edition of UN and Africa.
Thanks for listening. Thanks to the team here: Derrick Mbatha, Nyi Nyi Teza and Willie Correa.

I'm Ben Dotsei Malor. Thank you for listening. Goodbye.
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