Abuja — African leaders ended a two-day summit on HIV/AIDS and related infectious diseases with a pledge to wage war on the diseases and their consequences. The summit aimed to articulate a continent-wide response to the diseases that, together, constitute a threat to the Africa's survival.
Declaring AIDS "a State of Emergency in the Continent," the leaders resolved "to place the fight agaisnt HIV/AIDS at the forefront and as the highest priority issue in our respective national development plans." In the fight against the dreaded disease, the leaders pledged to "lead from the front the battle against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and other related Infectious diseases."
In the Abuja Declaration, the 15 heads of state and other leaders in attendance pledged to take all necessary measures to ensure that essential resources are available from all possible sources, and that they are efficiently and effectively utilized.
Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary general, Thursday put the annual requirement for HIV/AIDS programmes at between $7-10 billion. And in Africa, the OUA says that between $3-4 billion is needed annually, but only a tenth of that is currently being made available.
The leaders in the Abuja Declaration pledged to "set a target of allocating at least 15 percent of their countries annual budgets to the improvement of the health sector." They pledged in addition to "make available the necessary resources for the improvement of the comprehensive multi-sectoral response."
About 36 million people worldwide are said to be infected by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Out of this, Africa has between 70-80 percent of the global total. The disease has spread across the continent, and in some countries, the rate of infection is as high as 25 percent of the population.
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"We are deeply concerned about the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS infection in our countries and the millions of deaths caused by AIDS, Tuberculosis and other related infectious diseases," the leaders said. They noted that these deaths are occurring "in spite of the serious efforts being made by our countries to control the diseases."
The officials recognised the role played by poverty, poor nutritional conditions and underdevelopment in increasing vulnerability. Annan on Thursday blamed Africas high incidence of these diseases on poverty and underdevelopment.
In a framework of action adopted at the end of the summit, the leaders set out areas of priority and strategies for implementing identified actions. They said the primary goal of the framework "is to arrest and reverse" the rates of infection.
The chief priority is leadership at the national, regional and continental levels to mobilise society as a whole to fight the diseases. Next in urgency come: improvement of information, education, and communication and protection of human rights.
