Mr. President,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Excellencies,
Dear Participants of the special session,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my great honor to greet you from this high platform and on behalf of the Georgian delegation express my special gratitude for this unique opportunity of participating in UNGASS. Let me inform you that Mr. Eduard Shevardnadze, the president of Georgia, and the Georgian government highly appreciate the enormous role and effort being made by the U.N. and its specialized agencies for peace, well-being and the prosperity of mankind. The UN's decision to organize GASS is very important and greatly welcomed. This initiative is critical in order to address one of the most important issues in the world - the HIV/AIDS pandemic. We believe that this session will serve as a milestone and will have a significant impact on prevention and control of HIV/AIDS epidemic worldwide.

The post-totalitarian period has been very hard for all FSU countries, including Georgia. We have faced a very difficult economical situation, which has completely ruined the state and social infrastructure. During the last ten years we have lived in a vacuum, as the old system was destroyed and the new one was not yet built. Under these conditions, Georgia's health care system was completely paralyzed. But Georgia has made a firm decision and has embarked upon the road of building a democratic state with emphasis placed on the highest universal human values. And while this road is not an easy, we are very optimistic and believe in a better future.

By expert assessment, the health care system is one of the sectors where the reformation process is being implemented successfully. This system reform effort allows us to create a modern type of health care system in Georgia. Of course, this would not be possible without the generous support of the international community.

Georgia is a Christian country with an ancient history and culture and its own alphabet and language. It is situated between Europe and Asia. Georgia's west coast is on the Black Sea and it shares borders with Russia, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The capital of Georgia is Tbilisi.

The area of the country is 69,700 km² and its population is estimated to be around 5,411,000. Unfortunately the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is only to $995 per capita. The main religion is Orthodox Christian.

At present, the number of reported HIV/AIDS cases is 229 in Georgia, including 199 cases among men and 30 cases among women. The number of AIDS deaths is 34. The estimated number of people living with HIV/AIDS is approximately 1500 in Georgia.

The HIV/AIDS cases are mostly concentrated in Tbilisi, the capital (92 cases) and the Black Sea coast regions of Georgia (Adjara, 42 cases, and Samegrelo, 37 cases). The highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS is reported in the age group of 21-35 years old.

Like in other countries of Eastern Europe, in Georgia the main route of HIV/AIDS transmission is intravenous drug use. Sixty-nine percent of HIV/AIDS patients have been infected through IV drug injection, 24 % were infected by heterosexual contacts and 4 % by homosexual contacts. The remaining 3 % have been infected through blood transfusion and mother to child transmission.

While the numbers are still low, we are experiencing a slow, but steady increase of the number of HIV/AIDS cases in Georgia. In 1999, a total of 34 new cases of HIV/AIDS were registered. In 2000, the number was 79 (more than doubled), and there have been 43 new cases during the first 6 months of this year.

Thus, the HIV/AIDS worldwide public health problem is now threatening the population of the Caucasus, including Georgia, where drug abuse is wide spread and sexually transmitted diseases, as well as viral hepatitis, have dramatically increased in the past few years. Even though Georgia currently belongs to HIV/AIDS "low epidemic" counties, the experts predict that unless urgent preventive measures are undertaken immediately, the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS is expected in Georgia in near future.

This dire prognosis is based upon the analysis of the current epidemiological situation in Georgia and neighboring countries, all of which are experiencing widespread drug abuse, increased migration; lack of disposable medical instruments, diagnostic test-systems and means of sterilization, and other factors.

There are about 14,000 officially registered IDUs in Georgia. However, a more realistic estimate is around 100,000. Before 1998, the level of heroin injection was very low, but recent data discloses that about 80 percent of IDUs now are heroin users.

Currently, Georgia is still within the so-called "window of opportunity" for preventing the massive spread of HIV/AIDS. However there are a lot of challenges to be faced and overcome.

The Government of Georgia is well aware of the great importance of the AIDS problem and considers it as one of the top priorities for its health care system. However, due to the very difficult economic situation it is unable to fully address this issue.

In Georgia, the National AIDS and STD Control Commission, with its membership from different ministries, is responsible for the formulation of national AIDS control policy, and for ensuring effective multi-sectoral collaboration.

There is a well-established HIV/AIDS control service in Georgia directed by the Georgian AIDS and Clinical Immunology Research Center in Tbilisi. There are AIDS counseling and testing units in 9 big cities and 69 diagnostic laboratories in different towns and districts of Georgia.

During the Soviet period, the HIV/AIDS control policy in Georgia was based on strict epidemiological surveillance and mandatory measures. The concept of disease prevention was neglected, along with the presence of HIV/AIDS high-risk groups (IDUs, female commercial sex workers, MSMs and etc.).

In 1993, Georgia has joined the Riga Declaration on Human Right's and totally reoriented national policy to be more liberal and democratic. New policy is based on trust and voluntary cooperation with the population, and wide-scale educational activities, and highlights the importance of development and implementation of preventive, rather than control measures.

The law on "AIDS Prevention", that determines the basic principles in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Georgia, was formulated and approved by the Georgian Parliament as early as March 1995. The law was designed for the "period of transition", and was a mix of both mandatory and voluntary measures of AIDS control. In 1999, a group of experts revised the law in order to eliminate or limit any compulsory measures, and emphasize the importance of HIV/AIDS prevention, public education and human rights protection.

Before 1999, three separate programs on HIV/AIDS, STD Control and Blood Safety were operating in Georgia. Last year the Georgian Ministry of Health decided to merge those programs, and the new program is entitled The National HIV/AIDS, STD Prevention and Control, and Blood Safety Program. The program envisions free testing of all blood donors for HIV, HBV, HCV and syphilis. It also is setting up epidemiological surveillance, including a sentinel surveillance system, developing and implementing HIV/AIDS prevention interventions, delivering wide-scale educational activities to high risk groups, and the general public, and improving the care and support of people living with HIV/AIDS.

Unfortunately, the approved budget of the national program for 2001 was only 800,000 USD, that is several times less than what was requested. Lack of funds makes it extremely difficult to develop and implement modern, effective anti-HIV/AIDS measures in Georgia.

All modern HIV/AIDS diagnostic and treatment methods are available in Georgia. However, due to the difficult economic situation, we are not able to provide specific antiretroviral treatment (HAART) for all AIDS patients. That is why I would like to use this opportunity and address this issue to the UN, WHO and other international organizations. We ask that Georgia be included in the list of countries that are eligible for considerable discounts in the price of specific anti HIV medicines.

A National Multi-sectoral Program on HIV/AIDS was developed for 2002-2006 to facilitate a full mobilization of governmental and non-governmental organizations and the entire Georgian society to address this problem. Also together with UNICEF we have elaborated a Plan of Action for 2001-2002. This program and the plan serve as the basis for development and implementation of effective prevention and control of the predicted HIV/AIDS epidemic in Georgia. However, despite all these efforts, we cannot succeed in this without considerable assistance from international donor organizations.

In 1997 the UN Theme group on HIV/AIDS was formed in Georgia. The main purpose of the group is to enhance collaboration among UN organizations in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention in Georgia. In addition a UNAIDS technical group was formed in 1999 to provide technical assistance of the Theme group. To our regret, despite UNAIDS commitment and UNICEF's high involvement, the UN Theme group is not always active.

We are especially grateful to UNAIDS headquarters and UNICEF for significant and continuous support. With their financial and methodological assistance we were able to conduct a comprehensive situation and response analysis and are currently working on a strategic plan for HIV/AIDS for the next five years (Fig 21). These two organizations have also made valuable inputs into the development of an adequate legal framework, and advocated policy changes for effective HIV/AIDS prevention and control. We had small-scale projects with UNESCO, UNFPA and WHO, but, unfortunately, the involvement of other UN organizations in anti HIV/AIDS activities is not significant in Georgia.

Also, we collaborate with USAID and its affiliated organizations, like AED and AMA. They support the National Blood Safety Program with supply of needed diagnostic equipment and test-systems. Taking into consideration the wide possibilities and generous mission of USAID, we hope that their collaboration in the AIDS field will be enhanced in the future.

In conclusion, I would like to express our hope that this special session of the General Assembly will not only develop new, more effective policy and approaches to HIV/AIDS prevention and control worldwide, but will address the needs of particular countries, including Georgia. We have great confidence in international collaboration and assistance for the defeat of AIDS. On our part, let me assure you that the Georgian government will do its best to implement the decisions and recommendations of this Special Session.

Thank you.