UN AIDS summit called 'death by diplomacy'

Activists from more than 70 civil society groups from around the world have denounced the United Nations political declaration on HIV/AIDS released June 2 at the end of a major international gathering. The three-day meeting was called by the world body to find out what more needs to be done to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which is taking the lives of thousands of people every day. But many among those who negotiated the document appeared to be in no mood to take practical actions needed to help millions of people around the world who are infected with HIV. "Once more we are disappointed," said Rev. Njongonkulu Ndungane, the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa who, like many others, had hoped that government leaders might agree to take specific measures for the treatment and care of people living with HIV and AIDS. Despite repeated calls from hundreds of civil society groups and certain governments, the UN member states agreed on a text that commits no hard targets on funding and treatment. Its signatories also shied away from admitting that most among those whose lives are at risk from HIV/AIDS include drug users, sex workers and men who have sex with men, communities that certain governments regard as unlawful and immoral. They are referred to in the Declaration as "vulnerable" groups, a term that many rights groups as well as some UN officials consider vague and open to different interpretations, which could provide justifications for certain governments' failures to take action on their behalf. "I refuse to accept that the life of a poor migrant, men who have sex with men, an injecting drug user or a sex worker is worth less than the life of my children," said Peter Piot, executive director of the Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS, speaking to a packed General Assembly Hall a few hours before the adoption of the Declaration on HIV/AIDS. In the negotiation process, a number of delegates, especially those from Europe, wanted to include in the text a clear-cut and specific reference to the needs of the so-called "vulnerable" communities, but the United States and a number of countries with majority Muslim populations posed strong opposition. Many observers hold the United States particularly responsible for damaging the prospects of a strong declaration. Throughout the negotiations, the US delegation moved time and again to weaken the language on HIV prevention, access to low-cost drugs and targets for treatment funding. "It's death by diplomacy," said Eric Sawyer, a US-based activist who has lived with HIV/AIDS for 25 years. "Hour after hour, my government fought for its own selfish interests rather than for the lives of millions dying needlessly around the globe." According to Action Aid International, a nonprofit group, every day more than 8,000 people die from HIV/AIDS and about 13,000 are infected. The UN says about 15 million people have died and 25 million more have been infected with HIV/AIDS since 2001 when world leaders pledged to fight the epidemic at a summit held in New York. As part of international efforts, that Summit established what is now called the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The Fund, however, remains starved of funds. In the Declaration, nations acknowledge that funding is vital for successful efforts, but ignored calls for setting a specific target. UN officials estimate that every year, treatment and care for those living with HIV/AIDS require at least $23 billion. "At this stage in the pandemic, we expect government commitment to close the global funding gap," said Kieran Daly of the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations. "Instead they have tried to let themselves off the hook." Many observers point to the United States, the wealthiest nation in the world, as a driving force behind the move to avoid specific financial commitments. For the past few years, the US has withheld aid to countries that hold different views on sexual morality. Meanwhile, groups fighting for the rights of people with HIV/AIDS from Africa said they felt betrayed by some of the delegates from their continent because they broke the promises their leaders made at a summit held in Abuja early this year. The Abuja meeting of heads of states had decided to set clear targets for HIV prevention and treatment to be achieved on the continent by 2010. "The continent that is most ravaged by AIDS has demonstrated a complete lack of leadership," said Omololu Faloubi of the African Civil Society Coalition. "It is a sad day as an African to be represented by such poor leadership." Faloubi and other activists said they felt particularly disappointed with the role the South African and Egyptian delegates played in the negotiating. Both nations opposed the setting of targets on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, despite having agreed on that at the Abuja Summit. "African governments have displayed a stunning degree of apathy, irresponsibility and complete disrespect for any of the agreements they made in the last few months," said Leonard Okello of Action Aid International. "The negotiation process was guided by trading political, economic and other interests of the big and powerful countries rather than the glaring facts and statistics of the global AIDS crisis, 70 percent of which is in sub-Saharan Africa," he added.