By Holy See Mission
Statement byH. Em. Cardinal
Claudio HummesHead
of delegation of the Holy Seeto
the high level plenary meeting of the General Assemblydevoted to the follow-up to the outcome of the XXVI Special Session:implementation of the declaration of commitment on HIV/AIDSNew York, 22
September 2003Mr. President,
First of all, on
behalf of my delegation, let me express to you sincere appreciation for
conducting this High-Level Plenary on HIV/AIDS, a most opportune
initiative
which expresses the international community's resolve to create more
effective
strategies in addressing the challenges posed by this epidemic and other
preventable diseases, such as malaria, cholera and tuberculosis. My
delegation
wishes to pay tribute to the personal commitment of the Secretary
General in the
fight against HIV/AIDS and thank him for the comprehensive report on
progress in
implementation of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS of the XXVI
Special
Session of this General Assembly.
HIV/AIDS has been
and remains one of the major tragedies of our time. It is not only a
health
problem of enormous magnitude; it is a social, economic and political
concern as
well; and, as my delegation has already underlined a number of times
here at the
United Nations and in similar fora elsewhere, it is also a moral
question, as
the causes of the epidemic clearly reflect a serious crisis of values.
Its rapid
diffusion and tragic consequences have spared no geographic segment of
the human
family. More than 70 million people are expected to die of AIDS over the
next 20
years. In 2001, on the occasion of the X General Assembly of the
Synod of
Bishops of the Catholic Church, the Bishops from sub-Saharan Africa
launched an
appeal to the international community for urgent help in their
battle
against this plague that "is reaping a fearful harvest of death" in that
region.
In fact, a large majority of those have died and of those expected to
die of
AIDS, as well as of those who are infected with the virus, are in
sub-Saharan
Africa.
Allow me to draw
special attention to one of the most vulnerable groups of HIV/AIDS
victims,
namely our children. So many of them have been and continue to be
victims of
this epidemic, either because they have been infected by the virus
passed on to
them by birth, or because they have become orphans due to AIDS-related
premature
death of their parents. HIV/AIDS is causing a sharp increase in child
mortality:
3.8 million of the 19 million who died of AIDS last year were children
under the
age of 15. During the last two decades it has left over 14 million
orphans, more
than 11 million of whom are in sub-Saharan Africa. And, according
to one
estimate, by 2010 in Africa alone there will be 40 million AIDS
orphans,
95% of whom carrying the virus.
The urgent need
for treatment for these young patients can be met by the advances in
medical
science. Unfortunately, the cost of medical treatment is high and often
beyond the reach not only of the poor, but even of those in the
middle
income bracket. This economic problem is compounded by legal
issues, such
as contentious interpretations of the right to intellectual property. My
delegation is heartened by the WTO (World Trade Organization) agreement
reached
last 30 August 2003, which will make it easier for poorer States to
import
cheaper generic pharmaceuticals made under compulsory licensing. This
agreement
should give these young patients greater access to medicines. We dare to
hope
that more concrete expressions of political will and moral courage like
this
would soon follow. But the HIV/AIDS sufferers do not only turn to
pharmaceutical
companies for help; their appeal for political will and moral courage is
addressed above all to the whole international community. Indeed, while
there
are only few investors in the pharmaceutical firms which can provide the
medicines these young patients direly need, all of us - as individuals
and as
community - must be investors in the noble cause of protecting the
children and
the young from HIV/AIDS infection and rescuing those who already carry
the
virus, because they are the future of the human race.
Mr. President,
The Holy See and
the Catholic institutions have not shrunk from the global fight against
HIV/AIDS. My delegation is pleased to note that 12% of care providers
for
HIV/AIDS patients are agencies of the Catholic Church and 13% of the
global
relief for those affected by the epidemic comes from Catholic
non-governmental
organizations. The Holy See, thanks to its institutions worldwide,
provides 25%
of the total care given to HIV/AIDS victims, placing itself among the
leading
advocates in the field, in particular among the most ubiquitous and best
providers of care for the victims.
In fact, within
this year, through the Pontifical Council for Health Care and various
Catholic
organizations, the Holy See will have reached its objective of having
operational institutions and programs in all the sub-Saharan African
countries,
and of starting new ones in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Thailand and
Lithuania,
in addition to those already existing in other countries worldwide. They
offer
wide-ranging services, from awareness campaigns to education towards
responsible
behavior, from counseling to moral support, from nutrition centers to
orphanages, from hospital treatment to home and prison care for HIV/AIDS
patients.
Moreover, in
order to coordinate better its activities the Holy See has established
an Ad Hoc
Committee on the fight against HIV/AIDS. The Committee intends to
express
particular solicitude for sub-Saharan Africa, where the suffering is
most acute,
and to pay special attention to the problems of stigma and
discrimination
accompanying the disease, to access to treatment and care, to education
on
responsible sexual behavior C including abstinence and marital
fidelity C
and to the care of HIV/AIDS orphans. With these new initiatives, the
Holy See
intends to strengthen further its commitment and augment its
contribution to the
global fight against HIV/AIDS, as it reaffirms its belief in the value
and
sacredness of every human life.
In closing, let
me reiterate the willingness of the Holy See to cooperate with the rest
of the
international community in combating this scourge of the century, in
mitigating
its devastating impact at present, in arresting its
menacing
specter cast across the globe from claiming future generations. We
cannot
possibly fail to rise to this daunting challenge.
Thank you, Mr.
President.
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