Former president Nelson Mandela and his United States counterpart Bill Clinton on Friday urged world leaders to step up the fight against Aids through personal action.
Speaking at the close of the International Aids Conference in Barcelona, Mandela said that in the next 20 years, 70 million people would die unless drastic action was taken.
”Aids should not be a disease of children. Nothing can be more heart-rending and in need of urgent attention than Aids orphans.”
With 40 million Aids orphans in the world at the moment, antiretroviral treatment should be extended to the HIV-infected parents of children, he said.
”Many children are orphans today because their parents were not able to get access to treatment for Aids. We know that there are treatments available that support the immune system, that fight opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis.
”Is it acceptable that these dying parents have no access to treatment? The simple answer is no. We must find the means to take life saving treatment to all who need it, regardless of whether they can pay for it, or where they live or whatever reason.
”If parents can be given a few more years, then their children will have a better opportunity for survival and development. It is a timely reminder of the sanctity of human life.”
Mandela called on all institutions, public and private, to make ”rapid and real progress in achieving access to Aids treatment for all who need it, wherever they may be in the world”.
”There is no doubt that strong leadership is the key to any effective response in the war against HIV. When the top person is committed, the response is much more effective; this includes not only political leaders, but those from business, trade unions, religions, traditional leaders and those from non-governmental organisations.
”NGOs have made much more impact on this virus than far bigger organisations. If only big business and governments had made a similar effort, we may have already turned the tide of the Aids epidemic,” Mandela said.
Clinton also criticised slow action on the part of world leaders to stop the epidemic.
Only one in 100 000 people had access to treatment drugs in Africa, and the world would not attain the goals set for 2003 by the UN General Assembly last year.
”Too few countries have concluded agreements like those of the Caribbean yesterday (Thursday) to get discounted drugs from pharmaceutical companies for their people.”
Aids constituted a ”global security threat”, and if only three percent of the huge US defence budget could be set aside for the war on Aids, it would make a considerable difference.
”There also has to be an increase in the role of young people and women because they are disproportionately affected.”
Clinton said he would be visiting Africa and India later this year to bring a more intense focus to Aids.
The next international Aids conference will be held in Bangkok, Thailand in 2006. – Sapa