At ‘Ending Aids by 2030’ Event, Deputy Secretary-General Says, Despite Remarkable

Progress, Global Actions Needed to Close Treatment Gap for 22 Million People

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, for the high-level side event, “Fast Track: Ending Aids by 2030”, in New York today:

In 2005, when I was President of the General Assembly, I attended an important commemoration of World AIDS Day at the Church of St. John the Divine, here in Manhattan.  I issued my strongest possible call on friends there to hold leaders to their promises to address this disease.

I was building on the “blood, sweat and tears”, as well as the courage of countless people engaged in years of struggle to galvanize global action of solidarity.

Since then, they and you and we have pushed hard for results.  And today, we hold this hopeful meeting based on a vision for a world free of AIDS by 2030.  This is all thanks to all of you and doctors, nurses, counsellors, activists, leaders and others across the globe.

I commend Michel Sidibé and UNAIDS for mobilizing the world to end AIDS.  Our joint efforts are saving innumerable lives.  We have started turning the tide on the HIV epidemic, not least through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  We are paving the way, every day, to achieve an AIDS-free generation.  We can confidently say we are halting and reversing the spread of HIV and AIDS.

AIDS-related deaths are at their lowest — a drop of 35 per cent since 2005.  By the end of 2013 there were 12.9 million people on treatment.  But let us remember that more than 35 million people live with HIV today.  Some 19 million of them probably do not even know they have the virus.

We must remember that women and girls still face an unacceptably high risk of HIV infection.  Infection rates among adolescents are increasing.  Children’s access to HIV treatment remains particularly low — only one in three children that need treatment get it.

We should be especially worried that the situation is worsening in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.  There is still widespread stigma, discrimination, gender-based violence and punitive laws against people living with HIV, as well as those most at risk of getting the virus.

In spite of remarkable progress in getting so many people on lifesaving treatment (almost 13 million), we still have a huge treatment gap of more than 22 million.  We have a singular chance to accelerate progress towards meeting the MDG target on HIV by 2015, and ensuring healthy and productive lives for people living with HIV beyond 2015.

I commend countries and other actors for taking responsibility for the response.  Domestic spending on HIV now accounts for more than half of global HIV resources.  With the right push and influence from all of you and partners around the world, we can end AIDS in the next few years.  That will trigger unprecedented progress across the areas of human rights, health and development.

We have the tools, the science and the knowledge to end AIDS.  Now let us translate renewed commitments and innovations into action.  Let us go to work.

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For information media • not an official record