Mr. President,

My country, Zimbabwe is predicted to achieve zero population growth by the end of 2002, the first developing country in modem times to do so. This is a combination of three factors:

1. The resounding success of our National Family Planning initiatives,
reducing Total Fertility Rate by two whole units since 1982.

2. Outmigration, especially of educated professional and technical
young persons and their families.

3. Escalating death rates which in themselves have reduced natural
growth by almost 50%.

All of these have been affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, not merely because of the contribution of HIV to death rates, but also as a result of the efforts of awareness of HIV risks on reproductive activity and the very real fear of wise educated adults of the risk of HIV infection ?not so much for themselves but the environmental risk for their growing children who are daily exposed to promotion of promiscuity and sexual variation by the popular media.

In Zimbabwe, as in the rest of SADC we are very conscious of the ethnic discrimination, active and passive exercised against black Africans. How else does one explain the exponential growth of HIV in our region as compared to other countries where the disease surfaced earlier?

We have achieved, as a nation two internationally recognised acclaimed successes which we continue to prioritize.

1. Ensuring and maintaining, since the earliest days of the epidemic (1985) a sustainable safe national blood transfusion service.

2. The highest coverage, of any country in the world, of reliable condoms (18 per male per annum since 1994).

And, in addition, the creation of sound hypothecated taxation, amounting to 3% on personal income tax and 3% on corporate taxation which last year raised over US$30 million and is managed by an autonomous National AIDS Council established by Act of Parliament, drawing its membership from all sectors of our society and with the mandate of a National HIV/AIDS policy ensuring that the major support is at district level.

We are compelled to inform Mr. Nazios (the new director of USAID) that, though we may not have clocks or roads in Africa, we do know the time and time is ticking away inexorably for some of our states. Because of world globalization lack of roads can be compensated for by world Coca Colanisation ? We use Coca?Cola trucks to get vaccines and medicines to the people very effectively.

We know that antiretrovirals are only a part of the solution to the problem, but while they are denied to us the message of prevention, especially knowing one's HIV status, is inadequately supported.
 

Mr. President

The World should recognize that we have taken the bold initiative to repossess our land to ensure that families have access to food and economic security, thereby combating the risks of exposure to HIV resulting from adventitious and adventurous commercial sex for survival.

We have had enough of the discriminatory stigmatising attitude of the rich towards the poor and the inequality which propagates the virus. The danger of this attitude is that the have nots and the haves will become the HIV's and HIV nots around the world.
We pledge support to the Global fund for HIV and Health and intend to earmark US$1 million from our own resources, explicitly as seed money for the creation of a budget line to identify, treat and eliminate reproductive tract cancers which are HIV related. This demonstrates our solidarity with the Secretary General's initiative as well as our recognition of an area which has, so far, been neglected, and affects our most vulnerable people, the young women of Africa.
 

Thank you, Mr. President.