Mr. Chairman,

    His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, has entrusted me with the honour of reading out the following royal speech on his behalf and conveying His
Majesty's greetings and consideration for this important gathering.
 
Mr. Chairman
Your Majesty, your Excellencies, your Highnesses Your Excellency, the Secretary General
Ladies and Gentlemen

    I am pleased to say how much the Kingdom of Morocco appreciates the decision taken by the United Nations General Assembly to convene a special session on the subject of AIDs/HIV. This is a commendable initiative for which I wish full success. I also hope this UN gathering will manage to mobilize resources which are necessary to fight this deadly epidemic and thus overcome the blatant contradiction which consists in hailing health as one of the human rights, while there is actual discrimination between developed countries which have been able to contain the spread of AIDs thanks to their potentialities and to the use they make of medical research, on one hand, and the developing countries which are powerless to check the spread of the disease, because they lack minimum prevention and treatment capacity. This is particularly true for the African continent which is facing this ominous danger.

    We are trying to cope with the constraints of globalization and to keep abreast of the developments taking place around the world. In addition, we are endeavouring to keep up with the migration flows which have now made it impossible for any nation to remain immune from this epidemic.
 
    In this context, providing medical protection as well as supplying the necessary drugs and medical hardware, require susbstantial resources from the national budgets, in addition to exemptions from taxes and customs duties for those medical supplies which are deemed necessary, especially drugs on which depends the citizens' health, without any discrimation based on social, geographic or ethnic grounds.

    In this regard, we commend the praiseworthy steps taken by the Secretary General of the United Nations to set up an international fund in order to enable AIDs - afflicted nations among developing countries to secure antiretroviral drugs.

    Morocco has developed, as part of its effort to fight AIDs, a comprehensive strategy based on detection, therapy and prevention. It calls for the involvement of all actors, including government agencies and the civil society, in large - scale awareness - raising campaigns through the media and among young people and risk populations at large.

    At the same time, we are responding to the concerns set out in the draft UN Pledge, being considered at the current session.
In expressing satisfaction with the UN initiatives, Morocco hopes to get the preferential prices granted to other countries. It also calls for the setting up of additional international cooperation and coordination mechanisms to fight this epidemic which poses a threat not only to our development effort, but also to health safety in the world.
 
    Given the experience, skills and know-how accumulated by Morocco and its professional labour force over the years, and considering its continuous monitoring, evaluation and adaptation effort with respect to the initiatives and actions undertaken in this field, Morocco is ready to put its modest experience at the disposal of the international community, and more particularly the African nations, in confirmation of its strong commitment to the principles of effective solidarity which should guide us all in our endeavours.

Wassalamu Alaiku?.