Distinguished Heads of State and Government, President of the General Assembly, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen.

The HIV/AIDS virus does not care about religion. It does not care about the colour of a person's skin. It does not care about ideology, or political sensibilities. It does not care in the least about politicians.

But politicians MUST care about HIV and AIDS. And they must show they care by being honest. Prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS will only work if we are prepared to be honest about who is at risk, and about how we can effectively respond.

People who become infected will not understand why political imperatives are more important than preventing the spread of this virus.

As political leaders, our fundamental responsibility is to provide leadership. That means we must always keep up with the changing face of this virus, learning, adapting and implementing programmes and policies to control the epidemic.

In New Zealand, we have faced up to the barriers to preventing the spread of HIV and AIDS.  Initially our homosexual community and intravenous drug users were the most affected.  Legislation was passed to decriminalise men having sex with men and remove discrimination.  A needle-exchange programme was introduced and made readily available to intravenous drug users.  Such change involved heated debate and public criticism, but we learnt quickly that prevention works.

The key to success is leadership and partnership between Government, civil society and community groups.  It meant trusting and empowering communities, especially the most vulnerable, to be part of the solution.  Hiding behind the traditional taboos about prostitution, sex before marriage, the use of condoms, homosexuality and injecting drug users will doom millions of people and see the spread of HIV and AIDS accelerate.

For our country, success on one front against the virus is just that.  The virus now operates increasingly on other fronts.  Different groups of people are being affected and our response must adapt, just as honestly as it did before.

Heterosexual transmission is the major challenge worldwide.  It is therefore essential that women’s voices are listened to.  Women often bear the brunt of the epidemic.  In many cases, they become infected due to a lack of access or acceptance of contraception or lack of power to say yes or no to sex.  Women also often bear the burden of caring for partners and children dying of AIDS. The protection and promotion of women’s human rights, including the right to be free from violence and the right to control their own sexuality, is crucial to combating the epidemic.

Another vulnerable group is young people, adolescents, who must be equipped with honest information about how they can lower the risk of the virus.

The continual spread of this disease will be a testimony to a failure to be honest and to act.  It is our responsibility to provide the leadership for that to happen.

It means supporting programmes to promote safer sex, not just programmes based on abstinence; human nature doesn’t work like that;
It means ready availability of condoms for sexually active people of all ages;
And it means addressing discriminatory attitudes towards people with HIV and AIDS.

While prevention is the key, treatment is also important.  The security and affordability of drug supply is an issue of major significance at this forum.  New Zealand supports the right of developing countries to utilise all available avenues to them, within international law, to obtain affordable essential drugs for treatment of HIV and other diseases.

It is easy to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problem in large nations of the world and overlook the impact on small countries.  The United Nations must keep a focus on small nations, particularly those in the Pacific.  The growing risks of an uncontrolled epidemic amongst Pacific peoples needs our attention at the highest level.

HIV/AIDS does not respect religion, ideology or culture.  To hide behind these creeds and philosophies is an excuse for inaction.

Political leaders at the forum must have the courage to tackle the most dangerous modern epidemic we have faced.

Thank you, Mr President