Informal talks open at UN to lay groundwork for General Assembly session on HIV/AIDS

Seeking to lay the groundwork for a concerted international battle against AIDS, government delegates from around the world opened today a week-long session at United Nations Headquarters in New York to hammer out a concrete global action plan for adoption by the General Assembly next month.

The talks this week aim to finalize a "declaration of commitment" which will culminate the work of the General Assembly's three-day special session on HIV/AIDS that is set to open on 25 June.

Negotiators are grappling with a number of complex issues, including the question of how to fund the battle against AIDS. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has proposed the establishment of a Global AIDS and Health Fund to furnish the estimated $7 to $10 billion required to fight the spread of HIV and other infectious diseases annually, while United States President Bush recently pledged $200 million to that effort.

Speaking to reporters today, the head of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Dr. Peter Piot, cast the urgent need for funding in stark terms. "The simple truth is that with the current resources, it is not going to be possible to contain this epidemic," he said.

Echoing this view, Ambassador Ibra Deguène Ka of Senegal, a co-facilitator of the talks, called on the international community to "help countries in their national efforts to mobilize enough resources to combat the disease."

The other co-facilitator, Ambassador Penny Wensley of Australia, stressed the need for both political engagement and financial resources. "Without these, we will have little hope of holding back an epidemic that continues to spread, and to place not just individuals, but communities and entire countries, at grave risk," she said.

Ambassador Wensley reported a strong determination on the part of negotiators to define a set of targets that are based on sound scientific and technical advice. "The proposals have been very thoroughly worked through to make sure that what is being proposed is achievable," she said.

"If everybody keeps the sense of urgency and the sense of focus on what we are meant to be doing at this session, we hope very much by the end of the week we'll have found agreement," Ambassador Wensley added.