Mr. President: Excellencies: Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is indeed my honor and privilege to address this historic gathering on behalf of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
At the outset, I would like to underline that this is maybe the very last moment for such a session, because it is so obvious that we are facing one of the most horrible threats to humanity almost ever since. Many countries are badly affected, some of them even might be erased from Earth. Over 36 million of people are HIV positive. It is the obligation of the entire world community to finally orchestrate the efforts to stop the spreading of the disease and eradicate it. Bosnia and Herzegovina belongs to the group of countries with low prevalence of HIV/AIDS, but that does not mean that we should not be concerned. When the very first patient with HIV/AIDS was diagnosed twenty years ago nobody was able to predict such a human calamity.

Unfortunately, in the meantime, millions of people have died, in fact they are dying even now while we are discussing the issue.
The whole world is expecting today from us not only to express full commitment to combat the disease, but also to determine a large spectrum of measures that we should be ready to undertake on the national, regional and global level. Every segment of the society has to have its own task, well streamed into the joint efforts to fight enemy number one of the world today.
Mr. President, it is high time for a strong, and an united world action plan. Everyone can contribute. We are very encouraged by the initiative to establish the Global AIDS Fund, and we would like to appeal to rich countries, companies, individuals to contribute to it. As the Secretary-General Mr. Kofi Annan already mentioned in his speech, now we need more then ever to see the solidarity among rich and poor, healthy and ill.The poorest countries in Africa are the -most affected, and we should request the rich and developed countries to significantly increase their funds for medical treatment and research.

At the same time the poorest and the least developed countries have to be assisted in building their own capacities for establishing accurate data base for easier follow-up. Without the adequate follow-up it will be impossible to estimate achievements and to plan future action, on all levels. Educating the people, explaining in details all the hazardous behavior that lead to the fatal disease, especially sexual behavior could contribute to the prevention. One of the significant roles in the field of prevention of HIV/AIDS is reserved to the religious and spiritual leaders.

Furthermore, countries should exchange positive experience and cooperate on the regional level via special Committees for fighting HIV/AIDS, already established in many of countries.

 We strongly support the adoption of the decision requesting the Secretary-General to address the General Assembly every year with the special report containing all relevant data at the national and regional level to assess how successful we are in fulfilling our tasks from the final document to be adopted at the end of this General Assembly's special session. The countries with the highest percentage of the population with HIV/AIDS should submit national reports even more often. It is of paramount importance that we are capable to respond to the challenges in every part of the world.

Finally, Mr. President, let this Special Session of the General Assembly on HIV/AIDS be not only the forum for combating this disastrous disease. Let it boost better cooperation among peoples and civilizations in other fields, to the benefit of us all.

I thank you, Mr. President.