“Let us not live in a make-believe world where HIV/AIDS is someone else’s problem… HIV/AIDS is a challenge for all ESCAP members, industrial or developing, rich or poor”, warned Dr. Nafis Sadik, Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General and Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific.

“It may threaten Asia-Pacific’s prospects for continued economic and social development, if countries and the international community do not act,” the Special Adviser urged.

Dr. Sadik’s wake-up call to tackle HIV/AIDS head-on was one of the many powerful messages delivered at the Ministerial Round Table on HIV/AIDS held on 2 September as part of the fifty-ninth session of ESCAP Commission (phase II).

Inaugurated in great style with multimedia presentations and high-profile speakers, the event marked the landmark Commission session that focused for the first time since its creation nearly six decades ago on a health and development issue. Ministers and senior officials from 47 countries in the region discussed strategies to prevent HIV/AIDS from devastating Asia and the Pacific the same way as in Africa.

Concluding with the thought-provoking question “The virus is testing us. Are we ready for the test?”, the opening multimedia presentation led the delegates straight to the heart of the matter; HIV/AIDS clock is ticking and “extraordinary” actions are called for.

“HIV/AIDS is no ordinary pandemic… It is a rampant global menace to all of humankind… It threatens to undo all our achievements of the past 50 years”, warned Mr. Kim Hak-Su, Executive Secretary of UNESCAP .

A “clear and present danger”, HIV/AIDS is all the more threatening that Asia-Pacific comprises the largest population base of any region in the world and is a predominantly young region.
“Even a low prevalence rate translates into massive numbers of infections”, Mr. Kim said, stressing that 620 million young lives were especially vulnerable to HIV in the region. “HIV/AIDS is a development challenge… Underdevelopment directly contributes to the spread of HIV/AIDS and its impact on the lives of the poor… We must draw on our region’s rich experience in combining social and economic policies to improve the lives of our peoples”, he said.

With an adult prevalence rate of 38.8 per cent by the end of 2001, Botswana is one of the world’s most HIV/AIDS affected countries. Mr. Festus Mogae, President of Botswana urged: “Humanity has never faced a threat as vicious and as insidious as the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Today, the epidemic poses perhaps the single most dangerous threat to life as we know it”.
“Just as leaders play a crucial role in times of war, no less is expected of them in the war against HIV/AIDS”, Mr. Mogae said. “In the fight against HIV/AIDS, we have found that it is absolutely imperative to be open and frank about sexuality. We have to deal with cultural taboos and traditions that stand in the way of the fight against the pandemic”. He concluded: “I strongly urge the Asian and Pacific region to avoid the mistakes of inertia and inaction… The war for human survival will be won or lost in this region”.

Dr. Nafis Sadik added : “Too few leaders are willing to stand up to say what must be said, that however unpleasant the reality may be, ESCAP countries have to face it. Some leaders have also buried themselves in the illusion that HIV/AIDS is not really an Asian problem: that the infection will somehow restrict itself to the high-risk groups… This is a denial of reality ”. She emphasized the need to focus attention on the vulnerability of girls and women who were infected by their male partners.

The Round Table concluded with an interactive session. Interventions emphasized among others, the importance of comprehensive care services, including the provision of antiretroviral drugs.