Mr. President,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

The extent of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic with its demographic, social, economic and security impacts has developed into the most formidable health and development challenge of our time.

The Austrian Health policy first reacted already in 1986 to the challenge of HIV/AIDS by passing its own AIDS legislation. The focus of the AIDS legislation with respect to the specific epidemiological facts of AIDS is on prevention with consulting and information efforts placed in the foreground, in order to avoid the dissemination of the infection. Among other things, the law regulates the notification of AIDS cases, which has to be effected anonymously.

For the last 15 years the Federal Ministry for Social Security and Generations has also committed itself to inform the public about the topic AIDS. Consequently, the Health Department organizes informative national AIDS campaigns with Austrian AIDS relief associations at regular intervals. Both the population as well as individual target groups with a higher risk behavior were and are sufficiently informed on the origins of an HIV infection and behavioral patterns for the avoidance of such an infection.

Simultaneously, the Health Department focuses on continuous and detailed information and prevention activities by means of seven regional AIDS relief associations, which evolved from the Austrian aids relief organization "Österreichische AIDS Hilfe". These regional AIDS relief associations are subsidized mainly by the Federal Government, but also by the Federal Provinces and private sponsors.

For 2001 a total of 34 million ATS (Austrian Schillings) was allocated for the implementation of the following main points:

 
- the carrying out of anonymous HIV tests for persons willing to undergo a test as well as consulting activities on the transmission routes of HIV. To this effect, special attention is paid to provide relatively easy access to advisory university centers, which aim to reaching as many persons as possible; meanwhile the associations also offer Hepatitis B and C testing.
- Prevention meetings in particular in schools, and in this context, the education of peers and multipliers (for example teachers). Special projects, i.e. prevention work (street work, prevention on the spot), in order to reach, in addition to the group of children and juveniles, other vulnerable groups.
- Consulting and information activities for persons infected with the HIV virus and for their families (but without treatment).

Basically, progress achieved in the treatment of AIDS has changed the clinical picture. As a result of the "Combination therapy", the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome has been slowly transformed into a chronic disease, thus causing a change of the scope of activities of AIDS relief associations. In addition to spreading comprehensive and practical information, measures which satisfy the needs of target groups, which can also impede the discrimination of persons concerned, helping them to return to their place of work, must be continued and intensified.

Since the prevention of AIDS requires flexible concepts, continuous prevention efforts of the NGOs which allows them to take into account the specific circumstances of target groups should be considered a significant corner stone in Austrian AIDS prevention and is all in all deemed generally successful. In a country with a total population of over 8 million people, 2096 AIDS cases have been reported to us since 1985, of these 1269 death cases. Reliable estimates of the number of HIV infections range from 10 - 15,000 cases.

Furthermore, the evaluation of these measures is carried out by the Health Department of the Federal Ministry for Social Security and Generations, and thanks to the assignment of research contracts, corresponding studies can be realized. Examinations of patients treated at major Austrian medical centers are carried out, and it is possible to effect epidemiological analyses by means of a very broad database, and to attain valuable findings.

Mr. President

For those persons, for whom preventive measures came too late or were not successful for various reasons, "round the clock" state-of-the art services are provided by the public health care establishments.

Basically, public hospitals are obliged to accommodate any person in need of hospitalization - i.e. any person whose physical or mental condition necessitates in-patient treatment. Consequently, there were and are no substantial problems connected with the medical care of AIDS patients. This intramural care of AIDS patients is effected mainly in specialized and out-patients departments of the hospitals in the larger urban agglomeration areas.

The "relocation of patients" to the out-patient extramural area, which has become feasible by the modern combination therapy is also paid for by health insurances. Therefore in addition to an increased quality of life for the patient, the financing of attendance services has been secured.

To sum it up, the Austrian approach to the HIV/AIDS challenge is based on the following elements:

• national, regional and local leadership
• multisectoral leadership, cooperation with all actors of civil society, especially NGOs
• prevention through education and information
• treatment

The Austrian Federal Government with State Secretary for Health Dr. Waneck at the forefront therefore decided - despite a very tight budget and a general savings policy - to give, in addition to the non-pecuniary support, financial support to the United Nations for the fight against the HIV/ AIDS pandemic, in particular in the most affected regions of our world. In this context, I have the privilege to inform you that Austria will contribute 1 million US dollars to the "Global Health and HIV/AIDS Fund" announced by the UN Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan.

Thank you Mr. President