Mr. Chairman:

No country is free of AIDS. A few -privileged and rich - have managed to reduce mortality through the use of drugs with high and irrational prices. Many others - unfortunate and poor - are facing a harrowing drop in the average life expectancy of their peoples and a demographic decrease that could lead them to extinction.

In numerous African nations, the number of teachers who die of AIDS every year is greater than the number of new teachers graduating.

The deaths that have already occurred in sub-Saharan Africa are equal to the number that would result from the dropping of over 70 bombs like the ones dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is a tragic paradox that the same continent on which humankind's earliest ancestors first emerged, six million years ago, is now witnessing the beginning of our species' disappearance in this new millennium.

 Cuba is also suffering from this disease. There are 2565 people with HIV in our country, of whom 388 have developed AIDS; a total of 896 have died over the course of the last 14 years.

Our program to fight AIDS guarantees comprehensive care and support for all those with HIV and AIDS, free treatment with antiretroviral drugs for those with AIDS, specialized medical care centers for cases that require it, and a tireless effort to ensure full social integration of people with HIV-AIDS, with all the rights enjoyed by others and without discrimination.

We also guarantee access to safe blood by testing 100% of all blood donations for AIDS, hepatitis and other diseases; voluntary testing of pregnant women has resulted in 0% mother-child transmission since 1997; and a prevention and education campaign has been developed, aimed at high-risk groups, youth and the population as a whole.

We have the lowest rate of infection in the Americas and one of the lowest in the world, with 0.03% of the population between the ages of 15 and 49.

 Although still blockaded, and thus denied access to 50% of the new drugs produced in the world, since they are produced by U.S. companies, we have contained the epidemic, and have furthermore achieved an average life expectancy of 76 and infant mortality of less than 7 per 1000 live births. Cuba has come to this Assembly as a responsible and integral member of the international community, to modestly offer its solidarity, experience and cooperation, expecting nothing in return.

The General Secretary of the United Nations has undertaken the worthy and just effort of proposing and striving to obtain between seven and ten billion dollars for the fight against AIDS. This amount is not sufficient, and money alone cannot solve the problem, but it is a necessary beginning.

Is it conceivable that this money cannot be raised to save lives in a world that spends 40 times more than this on illicit drugs, 80 times more on military budgets, and 100 times more on commercial advertising?

Is it conceivable that this money cannot be raised,to save lives in a world where 20% of the population accounts for 86% of private consumption, and where 22 individuals each have a private fortune greater than the amount requested by the Secretary General, white their combined wealth is 43 times greater?

The wealthiest, most powerful nation in history, which purports to be a champion of human rights, fails to comply with its financial obligations to the UN, is trying to reduce its contribution to the WHO, devotes barely 0.2% of its GDP to development, and votes alone against a resolution that enshrines the right of all people to access to AIDS drugs. And at the same time, it is dragging the world into an insane arms race through the sale of the most sophisticated instruments of war to its allies and followers and an initiative to establish a total global anti-missile shield.

Nothing more need be said to understand that the current international economic order is criminally unjust, and that words like democracy, human rights, individual freedoms and equality of opportunities, coming from the mouths of the powerful, ring hollow and demagogical.

 Donations and philanthropy are welcome and appreciated, for they help to alleviate the pain and suffering, but they are not the solution to the problems facing humanity: what is needed are justice and solidarity.

We believe it is necessary and possible to topple the imperialist dogmas ruling the world, but it will be a long, hard struggle, too long to wait for the 36.1 million people with AIDS, the million who die every year from malaria, the three million who die of tuberculosis, and the 35,000 children who die every day from preventable diseases, among many other examples that could be mentioned.

Cuba considers that this Special Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations should proclaim:

. That drugs to fight AIDS and other vital drugs needed on a massive scale cannot be protected by patents. Profi's cannot be made at the expense of human lives.
. That the external debt of the poorest countries be cancelled; immediately, without conditions or impositions. This debt has already been paid more than once.
.That the Group of Seven, at its next meeting, instead of adopting new economic liberalization measures to be imposed on the poor and less wealthy of the world's nations, agree to reduce military spending and to raise at least the 10 billion dollars requested by the UN, which should be provided immediately, without calmly waiting for 25 million more people to die. This is but a fraction of the social debt to the Third World.

I have been given the mission to offer, on behalf of the Government of Cuba, to the poorest countries with the highest incidence of the disease:
. Four thousand doctors and other health care workers to create the infrastructure needed to supply the drugs to the population, with the necessary prescriptions and follow-up. These same personnel could train and prepare a large number of specialists in their own fields, nurses and health care technicians.
. The professors needed to create 20 medical schools; many of them could be selected from among the 2359 Cuban doctors currently providing their services in 17 countries as part of the Comprehensive Health Care Program. These schools could train a thousand doctors a year in the countries that most need them.
. The doctors, educational specialists, psychologists and other specialists needed to provide advice and cooperation for campaigns to prevent AIDS and other diseases.
.The equipment and diagnostic kits needed for basic prevention programs.
.Antiretroviral treatment for 30,000 patients.

It would only be necessary for the international community to contribute the drugs, equipment, and material resources needed for these products and services. Cuba would make no profit whatsoever, and would pay the participants' salaries in its own national currency; this is usually the most costly aspect for international health agencies, while the most difficult is finding qualified individuals prepared to undertake such a mission.

Mr. Chairman, AIDS is a war without bombs and without armies.

The world has accumulated extraordinary knowledge in all fields of study. There are many more scientists living in the world today than the total who have lived throughout the history of humanity. The wealth that has been created is more than enough to guarantee a healthy life for the world's six billion inhabitants. Nevertheless, we have begun to live in a sick millennium. The only possible cure is to place all of the planet's infinite resources at the service of humanity, without petty commercial interests or national egotism. It is our responsibility to achieve this goal.

Thank you very much.