World leaders who recently gathered for the United Nations (UN) high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS in New York, United States of America (USA) have called on pharmaceutical companies to take measures to ensure timely production and delivery of affordable,good quality and effective Anti Retro Viral medicines (ARVs).
In a Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS that the leaders released following the adoption of a resolution entitled ‘Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS: Intensifying our efforts to Eliminate HIV/AIDS’, they expressed concern that funding devoted to HIV/AIDS responses was still not proportional to the magnitude of the epidemic nationally or internationally.
UN General Assembly President Joseph Deiss released the declaration during the closing proceedings of the three-day 2011 meeting which reviewed progress achieved in realising the political declaration of
commitment to the fight against HIV/AIDS.
They also reaffirmed the need for all countries to implement commitments and pledges in the Declaration consistent with national laws, development priorities,and international human rights.
This is contained in a Press Statement released to ZANIS by First Secretary (Press) at the Zambian Mission in New York Moses Walubita and which was also copied to Information Permanent Secretary Dr Sam
Phiri.
‘’This Declaration reaffirms the sovereign rights of Member States, as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations,’’ the State read in part.
The leaders further welcomed the availability of increased resources as the result of the establishment by many developed countries of timetables to achieve the 0.7 percent target of Gross National Product
for Official Development Assistance (ODA) by 2015.
The 17-paged declaration acknowledged the importance of this year’s high level meeting, which marked 30 years since the first report of AIDS, 10 years since the adoption of the Declaration of Commitment on
HIV/AIDS, and five years since the adoption of the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS.
World leaders also commended the Global fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria for the vital role it was playing in mobilising and providing funds for national and regional HIV/AIDS responses and in improving the predictability of financing over the long term.
They remained deeply concerned that globally women and girls were still the most affected by the epidemic.
They welcomed the establishment of UN-Women as new stakeholders that could play an important role in global effort to combat HIV through promoting gender equality and empowerment of women.
The Declaration is committed to redoubling efforts to achieve, by 2015, universal access to HIV prevention, treatment care and support.
[ ZANIS ]
Headline should be “World leaders call for timely production of ARVs” and not ‘World leaders calls for timely production of ARVs.’ A title might just be that bait to make one read or pass over a news item.