War against AIDS

It is somewhat heartening to note that the World AIDS Day, breaking away from the traditional mundane manner, was marked with unprecedented enthusiasm. This may be attributed, among other factors, to the highly shocking revelations made in a UN report. Commissioned by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, the report not only lamented wealthy nations' indifference to prevention of the scourge, but also warned of its ghastly consequences in a manner that appears to have conveyed the right message all across the world.
Pointing out that while sub-Saharan Africa and Asia account for the majority of HIV infections, it said that the security of the most affluent countries could be "held hostage" to the ability of the poorest states to contain the emerging pandemic.
Convincingly arguing that since international flight times are shorter than the incubation periods for many infectious diseases, any one of 700 million international airline passengers every year can be an unwitting global disease-carrier, it said that like the influenza of 1919 that claimed 100 million lives, a similar virus "could kill tens of millions in a fraction of the time."
More to it, lamenting the absence of any strategy to counter the long-term effects of AIDS, it also urged the UN Security Council to hold a special session on HIV/AIDS as "a threat to international peace and security" on a level with nuclear proliferation, terrorism and inter-state conflict.
As for the international response to HIV/AIDS, the UN report said that it has been shockingly slow and remains shamefully ill-resourced, wondering if much more would have been done if the disease had reduced life expectancy by 30 years "in non-African countries."
According to this revealing document, despite an increase in international spending to combat AIDS from 250 million dollars in 1996 to 2.8 billion dollars in 2002, the spread of the disease remained "rampant." In so far as its underlying message is concerned, it can be better gauged from the suggestion for a new consensus on global security, encompassing threats to both developing and developed nations.
Reference, in this regard, may also be made to the appeal it has made to leadership at domestic and international levels to act swiftly and collectively against all threats "from HIV/AIDS to nuclear terrorism, before they have their most devastating effect."
According to newspaper reports, the AIDS day spotlighted the increasingly devastating impact of the disease on women and girls. While US President George W. Bush unveiled a 15-billion-dollar Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief to fight it in over 100 nations, in a message to his countrymen, China's Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao, is reported to have bluntly stated his nation was faced with "a stark situation, calling for "still greater, substantial efforts" to stir public awareness about AIDS/HIV.
India announced a plan to distribute 1.5 billion condoms, backed by an intense media campaign. In Iran, health experts are reported to have warned that the country's growing AIDS problem was shifting from drug users into the bedroom, urging the authorities to go further in breaking the taboo over talking about sex.
Large rallies, seminars and exhibitions for creation of AIDS awareness were held in many countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. As for Pakistan, in particular, the day was marked by the agreement reached by the Asia-Pacific representatives on an action plan - "Islamabad Agenda for Change 2004" - to kick off a war, against crippling disease of HIV/AIDS.
It was drafted in a three-day first Asia-Pacific Women, Girls and HIV/AIDS Best Practices Conference. One hopes, this will be pursued with vigorous efforts to make our participation more vigorous in the war against AIDS.