At the outset, I would like to express 'what an honor it is for me to participate in the 26th special session of the General Assembly on HIV/AIDS. The Sultanate of Oman, under the wise leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said, has accomplished astounding achievements in the health of its population over the last thirty years of its renaissance. These achievements have been widely recognized and acclaimed by various international organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Mr. President,
Health indicators such as infant, under- five and maternal mortality rates continued to show progressive and consistent reduction in the Sultanate over the past three decades. Several diseases have been eliminated and life expectancy at birth has reached levels comparable to those inl developed countries. Furthermore an extensive network of modern health facilities providing full range of services is made available and easily accessible to the entire Omani population. As such Oman's health achievements are piece and parcel of a comprehensive social development.

However, rapid socio-economic changes coupled with demographic transition in Oman have lead to a remarkable change in the profile of the health problems and risks that are now facing the population. Thus non-communicable diseases, life style disorders and emerging diseases are becoming leading causes for concern. HIV/AIDS the global epidemic, which is sparing no continent, country or community worldwide, was first reported in Oman in 1984. While the prevalence of the infection in the country continued to be consistently low, the government is not allowing this fact to be a cause for complacency at home or indifference to the global epidemic. In this regard Oman was always forthcoming in its willingness to collaborate with regional and international agencies active in the fight against the epidemic. Both WHO and UN-AIDS commended Oman on its transparency in sharing the disease information and On the performance of its national HIV/AIDS control program that applies internationally recommended strategies for combating the problem.

Mr. President,

Oman's HIV/AIDS control program was launched in 1987 with an overall strategy to raise population awareness, mobilize national resources and enhance international collaboration in order to prevent and control the problem. Since then the program initiated the following activities:

. We conducted a national campaign of communication and information dissemination on the problem and its associated risk behaviors, which was particularly targeted to the young and adolescents who make up 50% of the Omani population. The program also continues to work diligently I to combat fear, stigma and discrimination, which are associated with the problem.
. We consolidated and strengthened blood safety measures in the country to eliminate the risk of inOction transmission through blood and blood products.
 . We encourage voluntary testing, counseling and consequently provision of appropriate and standard treatment including measures to prevent mother-child transmission.
 . We have built an HIV/AIDS surveillance and information system, which is documenting the infection/disease status and trends.

Mr. President,

We are pleased by the encouraging signals from discussions at the WHO and UN-AIDS with pharmaceutical manufacturers to reduce the cost of HIV/AIDS multiple drug therapy. The pharmaceutical industry is commended for the concession it
offered so far but the plight of HIV/AIDS victims is calling on them and us for more.
The international community is also obliged to boost and coordinate its scientific and research efforts towards the development of an effective vaccine which should enhance the ultimate conquering of this menace.
In conclusion Mr. President, while Oman realizes the importance of national action and vigilance to face the problem of HIV/AIDS at grassroots, it has no doubts that only collective work and partnership at the international level could pave the road out of this nightmare that is confronting humanity. More work and efforts are needed from all of us in order to relieve the sufferings of those most afflicted by the epidemic and have little means to fight with. In this respect Oman appreciates the
leadership and efforts provided by WHO, UN-AIDS, and other agencies and partners in this campaign. And we look forward to continuing our work along side our partners in the spirit of international solidarity against this global plague.
I thank you Mr. President.