Secretary-General’s Report on HIV/AIDS 

“It is technically, politically and financially feasible to contain HIV/AIDS and dramatically reduce its spread and impact,” United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan declared in his report on HIV/AIDS, released in late February 2001 as the basis for talks leading up to the Special Session. 

The Secretary-General called for stronger political and financial commitments by all countries in their response to the global HIV/AIDS crisis. Specifically, he urged governments to meet seven critical challenges that can reverse the AIDS epidemic:

§    show effective leadership and coordination;

§    relieve the social and economic impact of the epidemic;

§    reduce the vulnerability of people most at risk of HIV infection;

§    achieve agreed targets for the prevention of HIV infection;

§    ensure that care and support are available to people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS;

§    develop relevant and effective international commodities;

§    mobilize adequate financial resources.

The Secretary-General stressed the need to bring treatment and care to millions of people in developing countries. Wider access and cheaper drugs are a priority, he said. So, too, is the need to repair and improve public health systems in many poor countries. 

The report underlines the need to reduce the epidemic’s socioeconomic impact, and to limit the factors that make people more vulnerable to HIV infection—in particular, gender inequality, social exclusion, conflict and war, and economic upheaval.  

Prevention efforts have to be expanded, and steps to prevent mother-to-child transmission are particularly important. There is also a pressing need for focussed international research and development to produce microbicides and vaccines for HIV/AIDS. 

Successful responses, the Secretary-General added, have their roots in communities. Such responses actively involve people living with HIV/AIDS, and are driven by the empowerment of young people and women. The protection of human rights and creation of new partnerships are other hallmarks of success noted in the report.

Full text of the Secretary-General’s report (Word format)