THE WORLD IS READY TO TURN BACK THE AIDS EPIDEMIC

International Day of Disabled Persons: 3 December 2001


As part of the International Day of Disabled Persons, 3 December, the
World Health Organization (WHO) is launching Rethinking Care from the
Perspective of Disabled People, a new report that offers personal
testimonies of disabled people about their view of health care and what
should be done to improve their quality of life. Giving voice to disabled
people in both high- and low-income countries, the report contributes to
an ongoing process of evaluation from the point of view of those most
affected.

In general, disabled people featured in the report speak of a new,
unconventional approach to their health care. According to the report,
"Health and rehabilitation can no longer be understood solely in terms of
medical interventions and conventional notions of 'care'," which narrowly
focus on the limitations of disabled people, rather than societies'
inability to accommodate people of different needs and abilities.

In particular, they call for emergency services in crisis situations, such
as wars, floods, and earthquakes, that are appropriate for disabled
people. They also stressed the need for anti-discrimination laws for the
systematic removal of environmental and cultural barriers for disabled
people. The provision of support services, including appropriate technical
aids, interpreters for deaf people and personal assistance services, was
also underlined.

The report is the result of a global consultation with disabled people and
field experts sponsored by WHO earlier this year. In 1993, the General
Assembly of the United Nations adopted 22 Standard Rules on the
Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities. Four of the
rules fall under WHO's mandate: medical care, rehabilitation, support
services and awareness-raising. With respect to these rules, disabled
people pointed out a wide range of recommendations that could help WHO
Member States establish tailored yet comprehensive health policies.

A sample of some of the testimonies included in the report:

"We (disabled people) have to gain control of our own lives, our own
physical rehabilitation, our own personal assistance" (Belgium).

"Women with disabilities are deprived of the rights to motherhood... As
the medical profession does not think that women with disabilities should
enjoy equal rights with their counterparts, in terms of rights to
motherhood, women with disabilities are asked not to bear children when
they get married...I told them that we should make our own choices. The
fact is that I am now a mother of two children." (China).

"...on the day of discharge I was given a wheelchair, which I have never
used before...the people who had taken care of me for three months were
not even able to look me in the eye and tell me what to expect. They did
not ask me about the accessibility of my home and my support system..."
(South Africa).

"The experience of people with psychiatric disabilities in 'care' mirrors
the experience of other disabled people. We share most issues in common.
However, people with psychiatric disabilities experience more stigma,
discrimination and social exclusion than most other disability groups.
They experience more state-imposed forced treatment and detention than
other disability groups." (New Zealand).

"I can feel the pain of many parents of children with disabilities, with
health problems and considerable limitations such that they simply lower
their heads when they confront poor education or health services and
discriminatory and undervalued attitudes..." (Mexico).

THE WORLD IS READY TO TURN BACK THE AIDS EPIDEMIC

Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General, World Health Organization

We have reported, once again, an increase in the number of people living
with HIV. In particular, the number of children living with HIV is far
larger than we had realized. This is very bad news. But there is good news
too. The world is now ready to turn back the epidemic, learning from those
who have blazed a trail, scaling up best practice and confronting AIDS systematically.It will be a long fight.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has been spreading widely and deeply. It has taken time to understand it fully and be aware of its consequences. It has taken time to develop the necessary unity of purpose in the response. Also, we have not had access to all the tools needed to tackle it, at an affordable price. Nor have we had the money to do what is needed.

Over the past year we have seen the start of a real change.
Prime ministers, finance ministers, planning ministers and health
ministers are focusing on the devastating effects of HIV and AIDS. They
know that these effects are relevant for their people. Silence about HIV
and AIDS is being broken. Civil society, and in particular people living
with HIV have greatly contributed to improved knowledge and to the moral
imperative for action. Taboos are starting to erode. All governments
confronting the epidemic with a new openness. New information provides
solid scientific evidence for the benefits of investing in poor people's
health - including efforts to stem the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
There is intense and widespread political commitment to act. In Abuja, in
Genoa and at the UN General Assembly Special Session earlier this year in
New York, world leaders have made solemn declarations of their commitment
to stem the epidemic, setting targets for reversing its spread and for
replacing despair with hope. They have resolved to act within their own nations and together.

Low cost AIDS medicines are becoming available. Prices of life-saving
medicines for those living with HIV, including antiretrovirals, have been
greatly reduced. The ability of developing countries to take advantage of
the flexibility in current intellectual property agreements has been reaffirmed, most lately at the World Trade Organization's ministerial conference in Doha last month.
Essential health services for people at risk of HIV systems are being
designed. Health care regimes for people at risk of HIV, within
resource-poor settings, are being studied and characterised. This includes
wider access to reliable diagnosis, health systems that can offer
effective care, and appropriate treatment regimes are being devised and tested. Health staff are being trained in the management of care for people at risk of HIV infection and AIDS.

New funds are starting to become available: The Global Fund for AIDS,
malaria and tuberculosis already has commitments of $1.5 billion before it
has been designed. The work to develop this novel, rapid and results based
funding mechanism is well advanced, and I am confident that it will become
active on time, at the beginning of next year. It is a groundbreaking
mechanism designed to achieve full synergy between the public and private
sector and non-governmental organizations. I anticipate that the level of
resources moving through the fund to the affected countries will increase substantially - as it begins its disbursements and showing results.

World leaders are committed to fighting HIV/AIDS - together with other
diseases that precipitate powerlessness and poverty. This implies a
dramatic expansion in the proportions of those in need who can access care
for HIV and AIDS, and a greatly increased impact of efforts to prevent new infections.

The coming year can be a turning point in the fight against this global
epidemic. We have the means and the political will to achieve results. We
have seen that communities and countries can turn the tide on AIDS. Our
challenge is to take such successes to a global scale. Together, we can win this vital battle for the future of humanity.