Mr. President
Your Excellencies
The Secretary-General of the United Nations
Mr. Kofi Annan
Fellow Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen
 

Permit me to join distinguished Heads of State and Government in thanking you, and the United Nations system for convening this very important and Special Session on HIV/AIDS.  In addition, I wish to commend the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr Kofi Annan, for his personal and unprecedented leadership in the global fight against HIV/AIDS.

Mr. President

Please accept very warm greetings from the President of Zambia, Dr Frederick J. T. Chiluba.  It was his desire to be present at this Special Session on HIV/AIDS.  However, due to unavoidable circumstances, he very much regrets that he can not be with us today to join the comity of nations gathered to take very concrete steps in the fight against the world's most daunting task - overcoming the global crisis of HIV/AIDS.  Nevertheless, he wishes this Special Session, fruitful deliberations, with very concrete commitments towards eradication of the scourge of HIV/AIDS.

Mr. President

The HIV/AIDS pandemic is devastating Zambia, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) States, and the whole African continent is under threat.  Speakers from SADC and other regions will bear testimony to this.  This is why this Special Session is timely.  It poses a challenge to all of us, to assess our achievements, learn from our failures, and chart a new course, based on renewed and viable partnerships which emphasize collective leadership to this problem.

Mr. President

The African continent is facing three very difficult and serious challenges, namely, poverty, the debt burden and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.  Of these, HIV/AIDS is the most devastating.

In Zambia, the HIV/AIDS pandemic is the greatest humanitarian crisis we are facing.  It is causing a profound reversal of the development gains made over the past 30 years.

The epidemiological, demographic and socio-economic reversals of the HIV/AIDS epidemic include the following:

(1) HIV/AIDS is also contributing to the high burden of disease in our Zambian community.  This situation has, unfortunately overwhelmed the health care delivery system and has led to financial pressure on the national treasury due to the increasing high cost of drugs and expenditure on medical care.

(2) Infant, child and maternal mortality rates after decades of steady improvements have now worsened.  These rates combined with increased adult deaths due to HIV/AIDS-related illnesses, have resulted in a decline in adult life expectancy, decimating the active age group required for economic growth.

(3) HIV/AIDS is worsening the effect of opportunistic infections, morbidity and mortality, especially among young children and pregnant women.

(4) HIV/AIDS is fuelling a huge population of orphans.

(5) Both the public and private sectors have been affected in a number of ways including loss of productivity.  This has, adversely affected our human resource base, undermining our efforts to revitalize the economy.  HIV/AIDS is now estimated to reduce our GDP by up to 2% annually.   If there is no stepping-up of efforts to combat the pandemic, it is estimated that by 2010 this would rise to 20%.

Mr. President

As a nation, we have identified a synergetic relationship between poverty and HIV/AIDS.  HIV/AIDS deepens poverty.  Recent statistics show that women are two to four times more vulnerable to HIV infection than men.  Major contributing factors besides cultural barriers, are that women are not economically empowered and lack complete control of their lives, particularly control of their sexuality.  Feminization of poverty is an increasing phenomenon in Zambia and is exacerbating efforts at prevention, care and support strategies.

We recognized the political, economic and social risks of inaction and quickly moved towards putting into place a national response.  Several interventions have been adopted to curb the transmission of the virus and consequently reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS.  Our response is premised by the recognition that HIV/AIDS is more than a health problem, but that it is a development issue.  This understanding has expanded our focus to encompass a multi-sectoral and multi-dimensional response.

In order to coordinate and strengthen the multi-sectoral and multi-dimensional responses, the Government has established the national HIV/AIDS/STD/TB Council.  The Council has representation from a cross section of society such as government, NGOs, private sector, religious organizations youth, traditional leaders and people living with HIV/AIDS.  The Council is tasked with formulating and reviewing policies and coordinating HIV/AIDS/STD/TB activities to ensure effective monitoring and evaluation of programmes and activities.  The Council reports to the Committee of Cabinet Minister.

Mr. President

We have moved towards mainstreaming HIV/AIDS into all our policies and programmes.  We have incorporated an HIV/AIDS budget line in the national budget for use by each sectoral Ministry.

Mr. President

The community has also responded to the crisis by developing various initiatives and infrastructure aimed at mitigating the impact of the scourge on the family and society.  This is being done through programmes such as home-based care, orphan support, income-generation and community support groups for both the infected and affected.

Effective partnership has emerged between government and the civil society and this is exemplified by the work of organizations such as the business coalition on HIV/AIDS and the consortium on adolescent/youth sexual reproductive health, which provided peer, and parent/elder education of HIV/AIDS and family planning.

The responses we have put in place are bearing fruit.  Zambia has began to record a downward trend of HIV/AIDS prevalence rate among the young age group and overall stabilization of HIV rates since 1993 both in rural and urban areas.

Mr. President

Zambia welcomes many initiatives such as the creation of the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS and Health, which we understand to mean a concerted multilateral effort to accelerate action to tackle the major communicable diseases.  We would like to associate ourselves with the principles which govern the Global Fund as articulated by the UNAIDS Programme coordinating Board.

This, however, should be preceded by broad consultations on the idea and expectations of the fund and key parameters including, but not restricted to governance, and operation at country and regional level.  Other factors to be addressed will include the role and representation of developing countries in the governance structures of the Fund.  More generally, Mr. President, we appeal to our rich friends to match words with deeds, and remove subjective criteria to influence future initiatives.
We would, however, like to emphasize our strong view that in order for the Fund to achieve its intended purpose, it should be established with additional resources and avoid the establishment of parallel systems.
We believe that the establishment of the Fund is an opportunity to make a difference by demonstrating commitment to dealing with the problem of HIV/AIDS.  Zambia will, therefore, be making modest financial contribution to the Fund as a sign of our commitment to this global effort.

Mr. President

In conclusion, I would like to reaffirm Zambia's commitment to the declaration on HIV/AIDS that will be adopted by this Special Session.  We believe that this signifies the dawn of a new era in this new millennium.  We remain convinced that this Special Session will result in an unprecedented galvanization of global commitment and action to combat HIV/AIDS.

I thank you.