A/47/PV.76 General Assembly

This afternoon, the General Assembly will consider part I of the report of the Second Committee (A/47/717), concerning the prevention and control of AIDS. During this afternoon's meeting, the Assembly will also observe World AIDS Day. Today marks the fifth World AIDS Day. It is therefore especially appropriate that, this afternoon, we are considering the report of the Second Committee dealing with the prevention and control of AIDS. The global threat posed by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the acguired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) pandemic requires a truly global response by the family of nations. The challenges of this evolving pandemic involve a wide range of health and socio-economic issues, including the prevention of the transmission of the HIV infection, the demographic impact of the disease, the effect on vulnerable populations and the negative effects on women and their children. The United Nations system has responded to these challenges by undertaking prevention and control activities and by putting in place programmes aimed at the mitigation of negative social and economic effects. In 1988, the family of nations declared 1 December to be World AIDS Day, an annual day of observance designed to expand and strengthen world-wide efforts to stop AIDS. • Its goal is to open channels of communication, promote the exchange of information and experience, and forge a spirit of social tolerance. World AIDS Day provides an opportunity for talking about HIV infection and AIDS, caring for people with the HIV infection and AIDS, and learning about AIDS. The only international day of coordinated action against AIDS, it is now a yearly event in most countries. By highlighting AIDS prevention and care activities already under way and stimulating new ones. World Aids Day helps build a lasting world-wide effort to stop AIDS. I now call on the Secretary-General.

This is the fifth World AIDS Day. I pay a tribute to the work of the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO first alerted us in the mid-1980s to AIDS as an epidemic disease. The theme of World AIDS Day 1992 is "A Community Commitment". It is a call to the world to mobilize to mobilize money, energy and community resources to fight against AIDS. HIV, which causes AIDS, is a virus. Its cure will come from medical science, but the social, psychological, economic and political costs of AIDS are unlimited. AIDS kills productive people. It destroys families. It undermines economies. It threatens communities. This is a crisis of vast extent. AIDS is as destructive as war. There is no vaccine for AIDS. We must mobilize against AIDS. AIDS is a disease which touches two subjects death and sexuality. In many societies, sexual matters are discussed openly but death is not. In other societies, death is talked about but sex is not. In some societies, both are taboo. Thus, open discussion of AIDS is not always easy. No HIV-infected person should be stigmatized. All those affected need understanding and practical support. AIDS kills mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, children and babies. AIDS affects women and men, old and young in sum, human beings. AIDS is world-wide. No country has brought it under control. No region or individual country, or ethnic or religious group, has avoided it. Within countries, AIDS is not confined to any single group or to those living any single lifestyle. AIDS is now spreading most rapidly among young heterosexuals, particularly girls, in developing countries. Ninety per cent of all infected people are in the developing world. Not for the first time, there is a link between poverty and disease. Poor developing countries will be badly hit. Some countries will be socially and economically destroyed. One of the great achievements of post-colonial Africa the great reduction in child mortality rates could be reversed. WHO estimates that HIV has infected some 11 to 12 million men, women and children. More than 2 million have developed AIDS. Most of them have died. WHO estimates that, on this day, a further 5000 citizens of the world will become infected with HIV. By the year 2000, the virus will have invaded the bodies of 30 to 40 million people. The costs of nursing the dying and caring for the very young and the old who will be left behind will be enormous. Demands on budgets will increase. Production will decline. Teachers, soldiers, nurses and office workers will be affected. No group will escape. Action at the planetary level is the only answer: to educate, understand, care and, above all, find a cure. When a problem is global, United Nations coordination is essential. AIDS demands a multisectoral, integrated approach from the United Nations. In my report to the Economic and Social Council last June I said that the need for the United Nations to mount a comprehensive and coordinated response was clear. We must work, through the United Nations, to care for those who suffer, to assist those who suffer indirectly and to block the spread of AIDS. There are now 135 national AIDS programmes in operation. They have been planned, set up and assisted through the collaboration of United Nations bodies and agencies, donor Governments and the private and voluntary sectors. Within the United Nations system, I have created a single inter-agency advisory group with strengthened terms of reference. The group held its first meeting in November 1992 and will meet regularly. It is committed to creating a coordinated and effective response to the crisis. The United Nations has adopted a compassionate, supportive and far-sighted personnel policy on AIDS. I regard this policy as a model for every organization the world over, and I am making it widely available. We regard our personnel as a family. We will support them in this crisis and do all we can to retain their skills and knowledge for as long as possible. Hope lies in our ability to work together. The General Assembly, in adopting resolution 46/203 a year ago, sent a clear message to the community of nations. That message is a message of tolerance. AIDS is a threat to all men and women everywhere. This is a time for science and social justice to come together in a great cause: the cause of victory over AIDS. (spoke in French) A moment ago I mentioned the world-wide fight against AIDS. It is a new world war that we must carry on, the third one of this century. This one, however, does not divide people; on the contrary, it brings them together in an immense battle on a thousand fronts, which I shall group into three main fronts: first, the scientific and medical, then the political and social, and, finally, the psychological and human. AIDS is not something that is destined to follow us from one century to the next. We have eradicated smallpox and syphilis, and we shall also conquer AIDS. We must vow to reach this goal before the year 2000. We shall not leave a legacy of AIDS to the people of the twenty-first century. In order to conguer AIDS it may be necessary to go in a new direction: let us act as if this were an all-out war. This calls for two measures: first, financial investment commensurate with the threat, in all the countries of the world, beginning with the wealthiest; and, secondly, a broad effort to coordinate all of the world's medical knowledge. Let us turn now to the political and social front. Here I wish to emphasize the responsibility of the United Nations system as a whole. When WHO first launched World AIDS Day, in 1988, it demonstrated that it intended, without wasting any time, to mobilize a truly world-wide campaign. We were the first to understand that in no country anywhere would AIDS be a foreign illness. The purpose of the WHO world programme was to encourage and assist Governments to set up the necessary policies. That was no easy task, for often there were many prejudices to be overcome. However, I believe we are in the process of winning this first battle. The United Nations, setting an example, is mobilizing all its forces. Besides WHO, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and others are devoting some of their programmes to the AIDS problem. Just as the United Nations system has done vis-a-vis Governments, Governments in turn must play an energizing role among groups and communities, be they decentralized, regional, local, professional or associative. I should like to appeal here to the heads of organizations, business leaders and elected officials in regions, cities and villages to take the initiative in sensitizing public opinion and giving support to those who are ill. I now turn, in conclusion, to the third front. This year's theme is community commitment. In this regard I should like to make a third appeal, one addressed to those who are ill. The disease that afflicts them must not be for any of them a reason for shame. No one is helped by hiding, keeping silent and lying. Let them speak out openly. The fight against AIDS is, first and foremost, a cultural challenge, and the active participation of those who suffer from the disease is essential. Thanks to them and their frankness, those around them and their community leaders will take initiatives that will not only benefit those who are ill but will also be useful in terms of prevention. This undertaking will certainly require a great psychological effort; and this effort is essential because, in the final analysis, it all boils down to one single factor: the capacity of men and women to commit themselves openly to each other. AIDS is a global problem, and therefore its solution must be global. That is why the struggle must be genuinely universal; it must involve all countries without exception, all Powers, without exception; all communities, without exception. This war must be fought to the fullest, not only to save millions of lives but also so that our faith in progress and in science can be maintained. The victory that we together can gain over AIDS must show that we are determined and able to win other battles against illnesses. The battle against AIDS, therefore, is a symbol in several ways. Let it be the symbol of what humankind is capable of doing when it gathers all of its forces in the service of life.

As members are aware, on the occasion of the observance of World AIDS Day a special briefing on AIDS has been scheduled, featuring the Director-General of the World Health Organization, four speakers from around the world who are leaders in the battle against AIDS, and the Minister of Health of Jamaica. I shall therefore suspend the meeting now, so that this special briefing can take place. The meeting was suspended at 3.45 p.m. and resumed at 4.40 p.m.

The General Assembly will now continue its consideration of part I of the report (A/47/717) of the Second Committee on agenda item 12, which concerns the report of the Economic and Social Council. I request the Rapporteur of the Second Committee to introduce the report of that Committee. Mr. BALZAN (Malta), Rapporteur of the Second Committee: I have the honour to present the report of the Second Committee contained in document A/47/717, under item 12 of the agenda, "Report of the Economic and Social Council". An addendum to this document will be issued subsequently, containing other draft proposals for action under the same agenda item. In paragraph 8 of the report, the Second Committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of a draft resolution entitled "Prevention and control of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)". I should like to inform the Assembly that the square brackets which appear in operative paragraph 3 of the draft resolution should be deleted. This draft resolution was adopted by the Second Committee without a vote.

If there is no proposal under rule 66 of the rules of procedure, I shall take it that the General Assembly decides not to discuss the report of the Second Committee that is before the Assembly today. It was so decided.

Statements will therefore be limited to explanations of vote. The positions of delegations regarding the recommendation of the Second Committee have been made clear in the Committee and are reflected in the relevant official records. Before we begin to take action on the recommendation contained in the report of the Second Committee, I should like to advise representatives that we shall proceed to take a decision in the same manner as in the Second Committee. The Assembly will now consider the draft resolution recommended by the Second Committee in paragraph 8 of its report (A/47/717). The Second Committee adopted the draft resolution, entitled "Prevention and control of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)", without a vote. May I take it that the General Assembly wishes to do the same? The draft resolution was adopted (resolution 47/40).

We have thus concluded our consideration of part I of the report of the Second Committee on agenda item 12.

I call on the Rapporteur of the Fifth Committee to present the Committee's report on agenda item 145. Mr. OSELLA (Argentina), Rapporteur of the Fifth Committee (interpretation from Spanish): It is my honour to introduce to the General Assembly the report of the Fifth Committee on agenda item 145, "Financing of the United Nations operation in Somalia" (A/47/734). As it says in paragraph 2 of its report, the Committee considered this item at its 31st and 33rd meetings. At the 33rd meeting the representative of the Netherlands, on behalf of the Chairman of the Committee, introduced the draft resolution contained in document A/C.5/47/L.3, "Financing of the United Nations operation in Somalia". At the same meeting the Committee adopted the draft resolution without a vote. In paragraph 6 of its report the Committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of the draft resolution.

If there is no proposal under rule 66 of the rules of procedure, I shall take it that the General Assembly decides not to discuss the report of the Fifth Committee that is before the Assembly. It was so decided.

Before the Assembly begins to take action on the recommendation contained in the report of the Fifth Committee I should like t0 advise representatives that we shall proceed to take a decision in the same manner as in the Fifth Committee. The Assembly will now take a decision on the draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee in paragraph 6 of its report (A/47/734). The Fifth Committee adopted the draft resolution without a vote. May I take it that the General Assembly wishes to do the same? Draft resolution A/C.5/47/L.3 was adopted (resolution 47/41).

We have concluded this stage of our consideration of agenda item 145. The meeting rose at 6.05 p.m.