PAHO Director: Success in AIDS response due to clear political will and united front

New York, June 2, 2006 (PAHO)—The director of the Pan American Health Organization, Dr. Mirta Roses, said the response to HIV/Aids in Latin America and the Caribbean is "notable and evident" but further steps and stronger commitments against the epidemic are needed, with initiatives focused on equity, gender and equality to reduce stigma and discrimination toward people living with Aids in the region.

"The Region of the Americas has set an example. This is about the only region in the world in which heads of state established a regional target for the 3 by 5 Initiative, expressed in the Declaration of Nuevo Leon. This region has also set the example for multi country projects. Many countries have redoubled national and local efforts, capacity building, stigma and discrimination, budget allocations and more intersectorial and public policies with gender and equity focus," said Roses.

The PAHO director spoke at a panel discussion organized by the Group of Regional Directors on HIV/Aids of Latin America and the Caribbean as part of the High Level Meeting on Aids at the United Nations.

"To reach the invisible groups, to make them visible, we recognize the existing barriers, many of which are chronic problems. The inequities and the multiple barriers have to be addressed," said Roses. "The example of Peru and Argentina illustrate the level of commitment to ensure impact now and make it sustainable, curb the epidemic, protect the non infected, give extended quality of life to those infected or ill, reduce the impact on family and community, and stop stigma and discrimination to achieve a sustainable and inclusive development."

In the same event, the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General for HIV/Aids in the Caribbean, Sir George Alleyne, said emphatically that the Americas’ response to AIDS goes hand in hand with an unquestionable commitment and political attention. "Dr. Roses is a witness to that. I can assure you that HIV/Aids is being taken to the highest level in the Region. The issue of AIDS is at the top of the Americas," said Alleyne, a former director of PAHO.

Roses said in the response to HIV/Aids, "Universal access is about broadening the availability of services, abating the barriers and taking joint action. It is about reaching out now without delay to every person with information, prevention, care, treatment and support."

"A great deal is owed to the strong will to walk together, to work collectively and cooperatively among Governments, as in the price negotiations recently conducted in Buenos Aires, agencies, among persons living with HIV, among national AIDS Programs," Roses said, noting that the regional response to HIV/Aids does have barriers and calling for the Region to strengthen the commitment against AIDS, to multiply all necessary efforts to defeat HIV and, in doing so, keeping a clear united, Pan American front in the fight towards a better health for all in the Americas.

The panel was attended by leaders and experts from international organizations and agencies, national and local delegates and a broad representation of civil society groups, particularly vulnerable groups and those living with HIV/Aids.

Roses announced that "the three regional directors here today undertake the challenge, suggested by this forum, of organizing a high level meeting for this region, similar to the one that we are attending today. A meeting that can provide the space for the necessary dialogue between governments, agencies and civil society - including people living with HIV, gays/homosexuals, transvestites, commercial sex workers, young people and all the groups that need to have a voice and ought to support a stronger response to HIV in this Region. Together we can make universal access a reality."

Key links:

• Annual UNAIDS 2006 Report
• PAHO Video: "Challenges and opportunities to address the HIV epidemic in Latin America and the Caribbean"

PAHO was established in 1902 and is the world's oldest public health organization. It works with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and the quality of life of people of the Americas, and serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO).