Political leaders in Asia and the Pacific have a precious window of opportunity to save millions of people from HIV infection. But to succeed, they will need to drastically increase spending on AIDS and scale up prevention, care and treatment programmes, according to a report by the Asia Pacific Leadership Forum (APLF) on HIV/AIDS and Development.
The APLF, a leadership initiative agreed in 2001 at the first Asia Pacific Ministerial Meeting on HIV/AIDS by 33 countries in the region, is funded by the governments of Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union. The APLF’s aim is to keep HIV at the top of regional and national agendas in Asia and the Pacific, to promote effective leadership and to intensify commitment at all levels.
In the Asia Pacific region, the large majority of citizens remain uninfected. However, low prevalence figures mask pockets of severe, localized epidemics. Around 1 million people became infected with HIV in 2003 alone, bringing the number in the region living with the virus to more than 7 million. India, with 5.1 million people infected, is second only to South Africa as the country with the greatest number of people living with HIV.
The report maintains that an unprecedented opportunity exists for leaders to act now to protect their citizens from AIDS and, ultimately, saves lives. This is more than just and opportunity – it is a grave responsibility and the single-most important challenge for the region’s leaders in the 21st century.
According to the report, there has never been a situation necessitating more courageous and forthright leadership than today’s HIV epidemic in the Asia Pacific region. Leaders need to break the silence that fuels stigma and discrimination by speaking up and taking action on sensitive issues. “In the face of HIV/AIDS epidemic, good governance and responsible political leadership mean talking publicly about sex,” said Chandrebabu Naidu, former Chief Minister of India’s Andhra Pradesh State.
“In a society where there are religious, social, cost and other constraints, it’s even more vital to have political leadership,” said Anand Panyarachun, former Prime Minister of Thailand and chairman of the APLF steering committee.
Some governments in the region, such as China, Indonesia and India, are starting to treat AIDS with greater urgency. For example, the former Prime Minister of India, Atal Behari Vajpayee, declared the disease, “the single most formidable challenge to public health, human rights and development in the new century.”