Putting AIDS on the political agenda

Marking the first time it has debated a disease, the UN Security Council opened its first session of the new century on Monday with a discussion on the devastating impact of AIDS, which several speakers said was now claiming more lives than armed conflict and threatening the stability of many nations, especially in Africa. The United States which currently holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council, brought the AIDS issue to the top of a “Month of Africa” agenda at the Security Council. Richard Holbrooke, the American ambassador to the UN, said AIDS had to be considered at the political level and no longer in the context of a health issue. US Vice-President Al Gore who chaired the opening session, described AIDS as a global aggressor which, in Africa, was as much a security crisis as a humanitarian crisis. He announced a new U.S. effort to combat the worldwide AIDS epidemic, with US $100 million for prevention programs and new education campaigns in Africa as well as another US $50 million for vaccine research. He said the extra money would fund efforts to reduce the stigma of the disease and to care for children orphaned by AIDS. “When a single disease threatens everything from economic strength to peacekeeping, we clearly face a security threat of the greatest magnitude,” Gore said. Fighting the disease should be part of a new security agenda for the world. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that of the 48 least developed nations in the world, 33 were in Africa; of over two dozen conflicts in the world, about half were in Africa. He said 15 sub-Saharan countries in Africa were currently faced with “exceptional food emergencies”. And of the 11 million AIDS orphans in the world, 90 percent are African children. “The impact of AIDS in Africa is no less destructive than that of warfare itself, and by some measures, far worse. Last year, AIDS killed about 10 times more people in Africa than did armed conflict”, he said. “By overwhelming health services and by creating millions of orphans and decimating health workers and teachers, AIDS is causing social and economic crises which in turn threaten political stability.” James Wolfensohn, in the first address to the Security Council by a World Bank president, said: “We will be judged on whether the international community can face up to global challenges. AIDS is a global issue. It forces us to bring all our understanding together - of security, health, economics, social and cultural change. It forces us to bring all actors together - from developed and developing countries, communities and governments, business and NGOs, science, faith and civil society.” The ‘Month of Africa’ agenda will also discuss various African conflicts ranging from Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to Angola and Burundi. Several African leaders are also expected to address the council.