SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS TURNING POINT REACHED IN FIGHT AGAINST HIV/AIDS,
IN MESSAGE ON WORLD AIDS DAY
Following is the message of Secretary-General Kofi Annan on World AIDS Day, observed 1 December:
The world after 11 September has made us all think more deeply about the kind of world we want for our children.� In the new and uncertain environment into which we have been propelled, we feel more deeply than ever the need to hold fast to a vision of peace and security, but also to one of human security. �The United Nations’ mission to improve the lives of peoples everywhere has become even more urgent.� That means redoubling our efforts to turn back HIV/AIDS.
Insecurity permeates the lives and families of individuals affected by HIV/AIDS.� But AIDS also shatters the security of whole societies, communities and economies.� Indeed, it is one of the biggest obstacles to development itself.� It affects regional and global stability and risks slowing democratic development.� In this way, AIDS not only takes away the present.� It takes away the future.� That is the toll of AIDS.
That toll is rising.� This year’s figures on the state of the epidemic show that the total number of people living with HIV/AIDS continues to grow.� Every hour of every day, almost 600 people are infected.� And every hour, more than
60 children die of the virus.�
The motto of this year’s World AIDS Day takes the form of a question:� “I Care ...� Do You?”� For all of us who care about the world we want our children to live in, the answer is clearly yes.� But we must do more than say it.� We must all join forces to do something about it.
After years of slow and inadequate responses, this past year has seen a turning point in the fight against HIV/AIDS.� At no time, in the two decades of dealing with this catastrophe, has there been such a sense of common resolve and collective possibility –- among governments, civil society and the private sector; among foundations, opinion-makers and people living with the disease. �The impressive number of pledges to the global fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, proposed only last spring, is among many signs of a new level of commitment.� Thanks to the United Nations General Assembly’s special session on HIV/AIDS last June, we now have globally agreed goals.� All of us have a part to play in reaching those goals.� On this World AIDS Day, let us all pledge to translate our concern into action; let us resolve that we care enough to build a world free of AIDS for future generations.
