Health 
AIDS Resolution soon to be adopted by UN Security Council

"Remarkably, AIDS is at the center of this Council's deliberations for the second time this year. We applaud your foresight," he told the Council, thanking members for their commitment to fighting AIDS. 

The Resolution aims to intensify the fight against AIDS and calls on countries to design and implement long-term strategies to roll back the epidemic. It also targets armed forces and peacekeepers for education, training and prevention efforts, and urges voluntary and confidential HIV/AIDS counseling and testing for all national uniformed forces, especially troops deployed internationally. 

"We agree that voluntary HIV testing, accompanied by counseling, has a vital role to play in HIV prevention," Dr Piot told the Security Council, but added that it must be combined with other HIV prevention and support services, and handled with care. "Above all, HIV testing without informed consent and confidentiality should be avoided. Such practices often drive the epidemic underground and complicate other prevention measures."

In his 10 January address, Dr Piot outlined the links between AIDS and war, and the special vulnerability of communities ravaged by conflict. He also said that humanitarian aid workers, military, and police forces properly trained in HIV prevention and behavior change could be a tremendous force for prevention. This morning, Dr Piot summarized progress made since then and highlighted the following:

· efforts to disseminate HIV/AIDS information on Africa within the United Nations have been intensified: a key example is the Country Response Monitoring Project, to be launched this month, which will enable easy access to the latest information on the epidemic in certain countries through the World Wide Web; 

· the International Partnership Against AIDS in Africa has made significant progress: a common Framework for Action has been elaborated, and a number of country-level initiatives have moved collaborative action forward;

· the Inter-agency Standing Committee (IASC) has endorsed a comprehensive action plan which fully integrates HIV/AIDS into humanitarian action; 

· intensified discussions are now underway with the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations on responsible behavior and protection of peacekeeping troops and humanitarian staff, including training before and during deployment, and the development of a UN medical policy on HIV/AIDS for peacekeeping mission staff.

Dr Piot's address comes at a time when the AIDS epidemic continues to spread. To date, 18.8 million people worldwide have died of AIDS, 3.8 million of them children. Nearly twice that many, 34.3 million, are now living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The most recent estimates show that in 1999 alone, 5.4 million people were newly infected with HIV, and 4 million of them were in sub-Saharan Africa.

World Bank as partner
As a partner of the International Partnership Against AIDS in Africa, the World Bank has adopted a strategy, Intensifying Action Against HIV/AIDS in Africa: Responding to a Development Crisis, to combat the epidemic in partnership with African governments and UNAIDS. 

To stimulate and support implementation of this strategy, the Bank has established a multisectoral AIDS Campaign Team for Africa (ACTafrica), based in the Office of the Regional Vice President for Africa. The team serves as the region's focal point and clearinghouse on HIV/AIDS and provides a variety of services, including: 

· Equipping and supporting Bank country teams to mobilize African leaders, civil society, and the private sector to intensify action against HIV/AIDS. 

· Retrofitting projects with HIV/AIDS components where possible, assisting in the development of new dedicated HIV/AIDS projects, and building AIDS mitigation measures into other projects where necessary. 

· Supporting Bank country teams in addressing HIV/AIDS in their country assistance strategies. 

· Building HIV/AIDS impact assessment into existing environmental and/or social assessment processes. 

· Strengthening and expanding the Bank's partnership with UNAIDS, as well as with key agencies, non-governmental organizations, and interested bilaterals. 

Sources: UNAIDS  & World Bank 

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