26 Sep 2012

UN / AIDS

African leaders gathered on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly today embraced shared responsibility and called for innovative solutions to accelerate the response to AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said with African leaders now “stepping up”, the birth of an AIDS-free generation could soon be within reach. UNTV

Posted at: September 26, 2012 1:54 pm

Duration: 02:56

Available in: SD

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STORY: UN / AIDS 
TRT: 2.56
SOURCE: UNTV 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: FRENCH / ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 26 SEPTEMBER 2012, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – 2011, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

26 SEPTEMBER 2012, NEW YORK

2. Wide shot, meeting
3. Med shot, delegates
4. SOUNDBITE (French) Thomas Boni Yayi, President of Benin and Chairperson of the African Union: 
"Millions of lives have been saved, and the African continent has seen remarkable progress on the path of development. We have to consolidate these foundations for the present generation, as well as for the future generation."
5. Wide shot, delegates
6. Wide shot, Hillary Clinton at the podium
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Hillary Rodham Clinton, United States Secretary of State: 
"Let me be very clear. Country ownership is not code for abandoning our partners. We are continuing our support. But we are reshaping our programmes in ways that make them more sustainable."
8. Wide shot, delegates
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Hillary Rodham Clinton, United States Secretary of State:
"If every nation devastated by HIV follows the example of many of the leaders in this room, and steps up to shared responsibility, we won't just keep up our momentum, we will accelerate our progress, and move even faster toward the day when we can announce the birth of an AIDS-free generation."
10. Med shot, delegates
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Edith Mkawa, Principal Secretary for Nutrition and HIV/AIDS, Malawi:
"This initiative has increased the number of people who know their status from only four thousand in 2004 to seven million people at the end of 2011. These efforts have greatly contributed to the decline in HIV prevalence in Malawi from fourteen percent of adult people in 2004 to 10.6 percent in 2011. For this, I am proud."
12. Med shot, delegates
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeffrey Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University:
"I would urge every African country facing this triple challenge of AIDS, TB and malaria to scale up its health worker community cadre. At this moment this is the most effective and most limiting factor for properly addressing the diseases in the communities."
14. Pan right, audience
15. SOUNDBITE (English) World Bank representative:
"Any continent of about a billion people cannot rely indefinitely on imported drugs. At the same time, we should not have poor medicines for poor people. As Africa's economic renaissance gathers pace, it cannot remain the continent with the lowest pharmaceutical R and D production capacity."
16. Wide shot, delegates
17. Wide shot, community representative speaking 
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Carole, community representative:
"For the roadmap to succeed, it is essential that affected communities and representatives of civil society organizations be engaged in the process from this point forward."
19. Zoom out, end of meeting

STORYLINE:

African leaders today (26 September) embraced shared responsibility and called for innovative solutions to accelerate the response to AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, as they gathered on the sidelines of the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

They agreed to speed up implementation of the Roadmap on Shared Responsibility and Global Solidarity for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria adopted by the African Union in July 2012. This initiative outlines long-term sustainable strategies to finance and provide access to HIV treatment and prevention services and other health services in Africa as called for in the Millennium Development Goals.

Benin's President Boni Yayi, who currently holds the chair of the African Union, said that over the past ten years, "millions of lives have been saved" as Africa has prospered. He called for the gains to be consolidated for future generations.

Delivering her keynote address to the meeting, United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton recognized the renewed commitment by the African Union and individual African states to the AIDS response and promised continued support, assuring leaders that "country ownership is not code for abandoning our partners".

Clinton commended the efforts of countries like Namibia, South Africa and Rwanda who have increased their share of AIDS spending and patient care. She said "if every nation devastated by HIV follows the example of many of the leaders in this room and steps up to shared responsibility, we won't just keep up our momentum—we will accelerate our progress and move even faster toward the day when we can announce the birth of an AIDS-free generation".

Malawi's Principal Secretary for Nutrition and HIV/AIDS, Edith Mkawa described various measures her country has taken, including an initiative on HIV testing, that have led to a drop in HIV prevalence among adults from 14 to 10.6 percent between 2004 and 2011. "For this, I am proud" she said.

According to UNAIDS, access to health in Africa has been transformed by inspired African leadership coupled with strong international support. Health investments, from funders and domestic resources have expanded manifold in Africa. Weak health systems have been replaced with a greater focus on human resources and ingenuity to provide health care in remote areas, it said in a press release.

Jeffrey Sachs urged leaders at today's meeting to scale up their health worker community cadre, as this was currently "the most effective and most limiting factor for properly addressing" AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in African communities.

Data released this year by UNAIDS shows that life-saving HIV treatment is now reaching more than eight million people around the world—more than six million of which are in Africa, the region most affected by the epidemic.

However, a majority of the pharmaceutical needs of Africa are met through imports.

In a statement delivered to the meeting on his behalf by an aide, senior World Bank official Makhtar Diop said "Any continent of about a billion people cannot rely indefinitely on imported drugs. At the same time, we should not have poor medicines for poor people. As Africa's economic renaissance gathers pace, it cannot remain the continent with the lowest pharmaceutical R and D production capacity."

At the close of the meeting, a representative of affected communities was invited to address the gathered leaders. She said that for the roadmap to succeed, affected communities and representatives of civil society organizations needed to "be engaged in the process from this point forward".

According to UNAIDS, there are nearly 23.5 million people living with HIV in Africa. New HIV infections in the region have declined by 22 percent since 2001. By the end of 2011, an estimated 56 percent of people eligible for HIV treatment in sub-Saharan Africa were accessing it—with treatment coverage increasing by 22 percent across the region between 2010 and 2011.