Statements and Webcast
Algeria
H.E. Mr. Abdelkader Messahel, Minister for Maghrebin and African Affairs
8 June 2011
- Statement: French (Check against delivery)
Statement Summary
ABDELKADER MESSAHEL, Minister for Maghrebin and African Affairs of Algeria, spoke about the growth of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the socio-economic impact that it had on Africa, because of the great toll on human capital and the cost of programmes. Despite progress, the challenge remained formidable. In Africa, access to treatment had grown, but it was still insufficient, as two thirds of HIV/AIDS patients still lacked health care. There were 16 million orphans. There was also a high level of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. While resources from both domestic and international sources had increased, the dip in 2009 and the current trend toward stagnation was a cause of concern. Mobilizing resources had to be key. Fighting HIV/AIDS required maintaining the spiralling costs of prevention and health care to ensure access by all.
Cooperation with pharmaceutical companies was also crucial to developing vaccines and less toxic drugs, he added. It was necessary to improve and simplify prevention and screening technologies. Integrated treatment was needed to better combat HIV/AIDS, including strengthening health systems relating to tuberculosis and other diseases. All of those issues were covered by the Abuja Declaration, but international cooperation and development partnerships needed to be strengthened. Algeria had sought to implement a multisector approach, including access to blood banks, screenings and AIDS treatment centres to curb AIDS and reduce the number of deaths. The low prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Algeria showed that it was a good approach.
Source: GA/11086