Commonwealth leaders urged to declare AIDS emergency

Commonwealth leaders meeting in South Africa this weekend should declare a global state of emergency on AIDS and lead efforts to stem the pandemic, the Commonwealth Medical Association (CMA) Trust said on Monday. In a dispatch quoting the CMA, Reuters said the body would lobby leaders of Britain and its former colonies to give greater priority to research on developing a vaccine that would be affordable and suitable for developing countries. The Trust, which represents medical associations from the Commonwealth, planned a one-day meeting on Tuesday to discuss priorities and action on AIDS, ahead of the summit starting on Friday. “The idea behind it is we encourage the heads of government in their communiqué to point out that HIV/AIDS is a state of emergency,” CMA director Marianne Haslegrave told Reuters.