#16 - RW 11-19-04 - RW Home
Izvestia
[U.S. Embassy, Moscow, web site
http://www.usembassy.ru/embassy/statement.php?record_id=113]
December 1, 2004
Turning Our Backs on AIDS Will Not Make It Go Away
By Alexander Vershbow, U.S. Ambassador to Russia

World AIDS Day is December 1. For two decades, HIV and AIDS have challenged nations the world over. Today there are an estimated 40 million people in the world infected by HIV. While sub-Saharan Africa bears the brunt of the disease, HIV/AIDS is now reaching pandemic proportions in Eurasia and Eastern Europe. HIV/AIDS is a threat that knows no borders, threatening the stability and prosperity of all nations, including the United States and Russia.

In 2004, there were approximately five million new HIV/AIDS infections worldwide. UNAIDS estimates that in Russia alone, every 12 minutes another person is infected. Whether we are aware of it or not, most of us know someone directly impacted by HIV/AIDS ­ either they have contracted it, a member of their family is infected, they are caring for a victim of the disease, or they have a friend or colleague who is HIV positive. One of the great challenges associated with fighting HIV/AIDS is the stigma often attached to it. Turning our backs on this danger will not make it go away. This is an issue none of us can afford to ignore.

This year's World AIDS Day observance focuses on women and girls. The United States is committed to working in partnership with Russia in combating HIV/AIDS here, in our own country, and around the world. Together we are creating new models of effective treatment, care, and support for people living with HIV/AIDS. We are developing specialized prevention programs for those people most at risk, particularly youth, and to reduce the chances for mother-to-child transmission. We are working to prevent sexual violence and exploitation, and helping men and boys to develop healthy relationships with women. We are supporting communication and advocacy campaigns and efforts to confront the stigma and discrimination faced by many with HIV/AIDS.

In mid-November the Moscow office of the Civilian Research and Development Fund conducted an HIV/AIDS conference focusing on U.S.-funded research projects in the former Soviet Union. Every day, Russian and American scientists are cooperating to develop vaccines to stop the spread of HIV and medicine to improve the quality of life of those already infected. Through the U.S.-Russia Volunteer Initiative we have sent volunteers from Russia to the U.S., and brought U.S. volunteers to Russia to participate in anti-AIDS projects and help both our countries learn more about how to partner effectively in this fight.

There is much more to be done. New resources in the fight against the spread of this disease are being made available all the time. For example, the U.S. government has launched an Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, providing an unprecedented $15 billion for the fight, $2.4 billion this year alone. In 2001, the U.S. helped create the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Our government also works closely with international organizations such as The United Nations Joint Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Together, in each country where we work, we are implementing the "Three Ones" (One National Plan, One National Coordinating Authority, and One National Monitoring and Evaluation System). Achieving this level of international cooperation is never easy, but it is crucial. With new resources available, the battle is really just beginning and the global community must spend its limited resources on defeating our common enemy, not on wasteful duplication.

Now is the time for all the nations of the world to come together in a spirit of dramatically increased commitment to stop HIV/AIDS. The American people are playing our part, working together with all who share the goal of turning the tide against HIV/AIDS. We urge you to join us. There is no time to lose.