UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
|
| UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) |
|
"ICPD 94"
November-December 1993
Number 10
Newsletter of the International Conference on Population and
Development, Cairo, Egypt, 5-13 September 1994
ROUND TABLE ASSESSES IMPACT OF HIV/AIDS ON POPULATION AND
DEVELOPMENT
The demographic impact of acquired immune deficiency syndrome,
its impact on social and health development, and its implications
for family planning programmes were appraised at a Round Table on
Population Policies and Programmes: The Impact of HIV/AIDS, held in
Berlin from 28 September to 1 October. The meeting, part of the
ICPD preparatory process, was organized by the Development Policy
Forum of the German Foundation for International Development in
collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
AIDS will not have a significant impact on population growth,
at global, regional or national levels, participants concluded. In
some African cities, however, rates of natural population increase
may be markedly reduced (although this may be offset by migration).
The consensus was that a more urgent issue is the negative
impact on social and economic development caused by growing rates
of premature death among the most productive segments of the
population -- young and middle-aged adults. In addition, within
some countries' health systems, resources needed for disease
prevention are being diverted to treat diseases that accompany
AIDS.
Another principal conclusion was that family planning
programmes have a major role to play in HIV/AIDS prevention,
particularly in helping women and young people to better protect
themselves from infection. Substantial additional resources are
needed for both family planning and AIDS prevention.
Forty participants -- representing developing country
programmes, international agencies, major donors to population
programmes, and non-governmental organizations -- and five
observers took part. Dr. M. Bohnet, Director-General of the German
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and Mr.
Jyoti Shankar Singh, Executive Coordinator of ICPD, gave opening
addresses.
In a keynote address, Dr. Nafis Sadik, UNFPA Executive
Director and Secretary-General of ICPD, emphasized that the impact
of the AIDS epidemic falls disproportionately on women. She pointed
out that population programmes are intended to improve the quality
of life for individual women and men, and that HIV/AIDS is doing
precisely the opposite. It is therefore essential to help women and
young people to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS, she noted; family
planning can make a major contribution to this effort.
Dr. Michael Merson, Executive Director of the WHO Global
Programme on AIDS, also addressed the meeting.
The round table issued a set of 15 recommendations related to
family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention. A full report on the
meeting will be issued by the sponsor in a special publication. The
report will concentrate on findings, policy statements and
conclusions to be used as inputs in the preparation of the main
conference document for ICPD.
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