Why we must defeat HIV/AIDS.

For the first time since the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) was founded more than half a century ago, a health and development issue is the theme topic for the Commission's annual session.

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Why should UNESCAP be so concerned about the HIV/AIDS pandemic? The answer is simple this disease is no ordinary pandemic. Two decades ago, when it was first discovered. HIV/AIDS was a mysterious, little known disease. Today, it is a rampant menace to all of humankind. Yet, to discuss how it is transmitted and how we should respond is to touch on issues that we find difficult to discuss in public--issues of sex, drugs and deep-rooted prejudices about personal behaviour.

We cannot afford to remain politely silent while the virus rolls on in its destructive course. The spectre of HIV/AIDS already casts a dark shadow over Asia and the Pacific. HIV/AIDS threatens not just the lives of our people; it is a threat to their way of life. Its tentacles threaten to unravel all our achievements of the past fifty years. Left unchecked, it could stall our future progress.

Asia and the Pacific has the largest population base of any region in the world. Even a low prevalence rate translates into massive numbers of infections. Moreover, despite the increased number of the aged in some societies, it is still a region made up predominantly of the young. Over 50 per cent of the newly infected worldwide are young people. This means 620 million young lives in the region are especially vulnerable to the disease. We have a responsibility to protect them. So where do we begin in the search for solutions? What should we do to minimize the impact of HIV/AIDS, to halt and reverse its spread? The tasks ahead of us may be daunting, but our societies are not powerless against the pandemic. We need, first of all, to acknowledge that this disease is a development challenge. It is not merely a medical health issue. It is no coincidence that globally some 95 per cent of people living with HIV/AIDS are in developing countries. Income inequality, malnutrition, illiteracy and gender imbalance directly contribute to the spread of the virus and its impact on the lives of the poor.

To tackle HIV/AIDS as a development challenge, we must draw on our region's rich experience in combining social and economic policies to improve the lives of our peoples. We must incorporate HIV-concerns into poverty reduction strategies. To stem the tide of the pandemic, we need political commitment and will at the highest level of government.

We need comprehensive, strategic and expanded responses on HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support, and we need to ensure that adequate resources are available to support this response. There is a need above all, for urgent action. We at UNESCAP believe that the leadership of Prime Ministers and Presidents in direct national action can turn the tide. Thailand and Cambodia, among others, are examples of countries in our region that have shown such leadership in their response to HIV/AIDS.

The response to the pandemic also has to be multisectoral, combining the efforts of Government and civil society, including the private sector. Governments need to integrate HIV/AIDS concerns into national development planning, sectoral plans and poverty reduction strategies. They also need to pay more attention to health, nutrition, education, gender equality and social justice. All levels of government must be mobilized.

Unfortunately, in many parts of our region, we shroud in silence and denial issues of sexuality, drug use and unequal power relations, which are central to action on HIV/AIDS. To seriously tackle the pandemic in Asia and the Pacific, we must address the factors that determine its course. The very taboo nature and the illegality of sex work, use of sex worker services, same sex relations and drug use foster the spread of the virus. We must respond with wisdom and courage to address the underground nature of that context, and we must find in ourselves the courage to speak up on these issues. We need to ensure that anyone who has sexual relations, who uses needles and who comes into direct contact with blood and blood products can be helped and enabled to help others prevent the spread of HIV.

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We need to empower vulnerable groups, such as young people, sex workers, injecting drug users and mobile groups, to protect themselves and their partners. Each of us can help create a supportive environment of compassion and care for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. And last but not least, we must step out of our boxes. Reach out beyond the conventional. Rise above petty individual concerns. Let us work together to defeat the virus.

The Asia and Pacific region holds the key to the future of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. Governments can save millions of lives by acting now. It is our collective responsibility to rise to this historic challenge. Let us stand united in the face of the pandemic. Let us join hands to save our people from this virus of mass destruction.

RELATED ARTICLE: 'Empower Girls and Women to Protect Themselves'

The United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, Dr. Nafis Sadik, emphasized in an address to UNESCAP the need to focus attention on the vulnerability of girls and women who were infected by their male partners. Their exposure to HIV infection was a violation of their human rights and a risk to these women's lives and health, as well as to their children's. While commending UNESCAP on according priority to HIV/AIDS issues, Dr. Sadik urged the Commission to empower girls and women to protect themselves.

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Many leaders in the region recognized the threat that HIV/AIDS posed, but too few were willing to break publicly the silence and denial related to these issues. There was a prevailing myth that HIV/AIDS was not an Asian problem and that the infection would somehow be confined to groups such as sex workers, injecting drug users and men who had sex with men. Those groups received little sympathy and support from society at large, and the prejudices against them often extended to all those affected by HIV/AIDS.

RELATED ARTICLE: 'Avoid the Mistake of Inertia'

In his keynote address at the 59th session of UNESCAP, held from 1 to 4 September 2003, President Festus Mogaes of Botswana underscored the extent and severity of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa, which held many lessons for other regions of the world. The first was that the international community must marshal the will and resources to stop the spread of the scourge of the disease. The pandemic had the potential to decimate large populations, aggravate poverty, increase income disparities between rich and poor countries and cross borders easily.

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He pointed out that HIV/AIDS directly affected one of the main factors of production and labour, through absenteeism, morbidity and mortality. It also affected indirectly capital and land, because reduced labour productivity made it difficult to optimize production. The loss of savings potential owing to the pandemic also had an adverse effect on investment and economic growth.

In his experience, political leaders at all levels had a crucial role in providing direction on HIV/AIDS policies and programmes, and allocating more resources and infrastructure for effective implementation. He strongly urged the Asia and Pacific region to avoid the mistake of inertia and inaction, and to bring the epidemic under control before it was too late. The current low HIV-prevalence rates in the region provided a window of opportunity for its leaders to make a decisive difference.

Kim Hak-Su has been Executive Secretary of UNESCAP since 1 July 2000. Prior to his appointment, he had served as the Republic of Korea's Ambassador for International Economic Affairs. A prominent economist, Mr. Kim also served as President of the Hanil Banking Institute before taking up the post of Secretary-General of the Colombo Plan in Sri Lanka, from 1995 to 1999.

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