2008 High-Level Meeting On AIDS

ART Executive Director and Capacity Building Officer participated in the 2008 high-level meeting on AIDS which took place at the United Nations headquarters in New York on 09 -11 June. The goal of the meeting was to review progress made in implementing the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the 2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS. The 2001 Declaration of Commitment was the first worldwide pledge to address the HIV and AIDS pandemic. It stressed partnership among all sectors of society— from governments and the UN system to business, labor, faith based organizations (FBOs), the media and people living with HIV or AIDS.
Member States committed themselves to stimulate and work with these partnerships in order to fulfill the Declaration of Commitment target guidelines for leadership, prevention, care, support, treatment, human rights, reducing vulnerability, research and development, reaching regions affected by conflict or disasters, resources and follow-up monitoring.
According to a report by United Nations Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon, investments made in the AIDS response over the last 10 years are starting to bear fruit, which highlighted decreases in new HIV infections and AIDS deaths over the past decade.
The Secretary-General’s report highlighted the unprecedented scale-up of access to antiretroviral treatment, which rose by 42 per cent in 2007.
Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), commended the UN Secretary-General on his report and highlighted the pressing need for stronger commitment to HIV prevention. “Every day, almost 7,000 people are needlessly infected with HIV because they do not have access to proven interventions to prevent transmission. It is time to act,” he said.
Representatives of civil society organizations addressed Member States and observers on Tuesday 10th June in an interactive hearing at the High-level Meeting on AIDS entitled Action for Universal Access 2010: Myths and Realities. The hearing was chaired by the President of the General Assembly and the UN Secretary-General made opening remarks. Following the opening, civil society speakers brought frontline experiences to the session, addressing the challenging issues that underlie the spread of the epidemic. They stressed the importance of accountability and involvement to fulfill targets set on the Declaration of Commitment and Universal Access.
An Interfaith prayer service to stop AIDS took place at St. Peter’s Church, where the leaders of different religions made statements for achieving universal access, treatment, prevention and care by 2010.