The HIV/AIDS epidemic has become a global crisis that demands global action. In many countries, it is triggering national emergencies, wiping out human lives and decades of hard-won social and economic gains.

Despite determined efforts to hold the epidemic in check, it shows no signs of abating. Its scale and impact far exceed even the worst-case predictions made a decade ago.

The need for action is clear:

• Cumulatively, more than 56 million people have been infected with HIV.

• Some 22 million have died of AIDS, at least 4.3 million of them children.

• In 2000, 5.3 million new infections occurred around the world.

• Some 3 million people died of AIDS last year.

• Each month, another 440 000 people are infected.

• Almost 1.5 million children under 15 are infected.

• More than 25.3 million people living in sub-Saharan Africa are infected.

• In South and South-East Asia, almost 6 million carry the HIV virus, while in East Asia and the Pacific another 640 000 are HIV-positive.

• Almost 1.8 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean are infected.

• In Central Europe and Asia, the epidemic is younger – yet 700 000 people already carry the virus.

• In Western Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, almost 1.5 million are living with HIV, whereas 400 000 are infected in North Africa and the Middle East.

In the past 20 years, more than 56 million have been infected with HIV – almost equal to the population of the United Kingdom. Some 22 million have died of AIDS-related illness, 4.3 million of them children.

Only an extraordinary response can reverse its spread.

It can be done. The past two decades have provided the world with a wealth of experience. We know what works in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Needed are the resources and the political commitment to apply that knowledge on a global scale.

To move this fight forward, the United Nations General Assembly in September 2000 decided to convene a Special Session on HIV/AIDS.

The meeting will be held in New York on 25-27 June 2001 – almost 20 years to the day after the first clinical evidence of AIDS was reported.

The Special Session on HIV/AIDS is a watershed event. Its role is to galvanize leadership at the highest levels, intensify and accelerate international action, and mobilize the required resources.

Top-level national delegations will review action plans that have proven most effective. They will consider new steps and new partnerships. Interactive round-tables will bring together government leaders, AIDS activists, nongovernmental organizations and private sector partners.

The aims of this Special Session are necessarily ambitious. The Session must lay the solid foundation for a global consensus on the essential elements of a successful response.

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 to 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.

Civil Society Organizations

Powerful forces in the fight against the epidemic are civil society organizations – especially those groups that represent people living with HIV/AIDS. They can funnel the vigour of community activism into the larger response, help mobilize new activities and focus attention on neglected aspects of the epidemic. Combined with national and international initiatives, their role becomes even more profound.

An e-forum (via email) has been set up to channel input, ideas and priorities from civil society organizations into the Special Session process. Issues raised through the e-forum will be compiled and made available to government delegations in the run-up to the Special Session.

To join the e-forum, send an email to break-the-silence@hdnet.org.

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 essential elements noted in the report.

The full text of the Secretary-General’s report is available at www.un.org/ga/aids.

Declaration of Commitment

It is intended that UN Member States will endorse a Declaration of Commitment outlining the key goals and targets they will aim to achieve.

The Declaration is expected to be a milestone for future decision-making on HIV/AIDS by governments and intergovernmental organizations. And it will serve as a powerful advocacy tool for civil society actors.

The Declaration of Commitment is being negotiated at a series of informal consultations under the auspices of the President of the Assembly, Harri Holkeri (Finland), with the assistance of two facilitators, Ambassador Penny Wensley of Australia and Ambassador Ibra Deguène Ka of Senegal. The consultations are being held as needed, with an intensive round of talks scheduled for 21-25 May in New York.

Working Together Makes a Difference

Decisive government action is essential in the fight against HIV/AIDS. But governments alone cannot achieve lasting success. Their impact multiplies when they collaborate with other constituencies – civil society, businesses, young people and the media, to name just a few. The United Nations system is working with governments and all stakeholders in this crucial fight.

Bringing Young People On-board

The fact that HIV/AIDS disproportionately hits young people shows how vulnerable they are in many societies. Yet, they are the future of families, communities and countries. The roots of any response should lie in protecting young people and their rights. This means providing them with the information, services and tools needed to defend themselves against the spread of AIDS. The odds of success are greatly enhanced when young people are involved in the decisions that affect them, when adults listen and respect them, and when their creativity and energies are harnessed.

A successful response to the epidemic hinges on the involvement of young people. To that end, several key activities involving young people are being organized in the run-up to the Special Session to highlight their roles in fighting HIV/AIDS and draw them into the on-going dialogue.

Young people's efforts to promote awareness and boost prevention campaigns are being publicized in the media. Other activities are geared at eliciting young people's opinions of measures that could bolster the HIV/AIDS response and on documenting their suggestions.

For more information, contact Laura Borden, Youth Coordinator-UNGASS at bordenl@unaids.org

Governments stand at the hub of HIV/AIDS strategies. National responses are most successful when they are built around public health programmes that respect human rights, and when tools of prevention, care and support made accessible to everyone. Governments can help ensure that HIV/AIDS programmes extend across sectors. Most of all, they can serve as standard-bearers in the fight against the epidemic.

Businesses have a huge role in an effective response – a role that goes beyond mere funding. At a minimum, they need to provide HIV prevention and related programmes in the workplace. They can do more, by supporting activities in the local communities where they are based, for instance. Partnerships at all levels – with other companies (through national business councils for AIDS, for example) and with governments and NGOs – boost their impact. And they can place their marketing and resource-mobilizing talents at the service of the HIV/AIDS community.

The media have a crucial role to play in promoting awareness of HIV/AIDS. It remains a tragic reality that tens of millions of people around the world do not know how to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS. Worse, 90 percent of those infected with HIV are not even aware of their HIV-positive status. Relentless and accurate public information campaigns are essential to enhance awareness, and should be spearheaded by the media.

United Nations System. As the leading advocate for worldwide action against HIV/AIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has a global mission to lead, strengthen and support an expanded response to the epidemic. Together with its seven Cosponsors – UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, UNDCP, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank – it has helped countries develop their own national plans to prevent the spread of HIV, provide care and support for those infected and affected by the disease, and deal with the impact of the epidemic on all levels of society – from households to the national economy.

Steadily expanding its scope, support and impact, the UN system fosters strategic alliances with governments, the private sector, foundations, community and religious groups, and regional and national networks.

Special Session contact information

Media wishing to attend the Special Session should contact:

Sonia Lecca
Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit
Department of Public Information
Room S-250 United Nations
New York, NY 10017, U.S.A.
Fax: (+1-212) 963-4642
Email: Lecca@un.org

Accreditation information and other information of interest to media can be found at: http://www.un.org/ga/aids/media.htm

Complete contact information can be found at: http://www.un.org/ga/aids/contact.htm for contact

Published by the United Nations Department of Public Information - DPI/2173 - November 2000