DECLARATION BY THE ACP GROUP ON WORLD AIDS DAY 2005
1 DECEMBER 2005
The ACP Committee of Ambassadors representing the ACP Group of States, on the occasion of the World AIDS Day 2005 with a focus Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise; hereby:
Recalling the commitments of the sixth Millennium Development Goal with a target to halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS and the incidence of malaria and other major diseases by 2015;
Recalling the commitments Governments undertook in a comprehensive programme of international and national action to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic through their Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on HIV/AIDS, in June 2001;
Acknowledging the continuing efforts of the international community and national governments to provide information on levels and trends of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and put in place appropriate policies and financial inputs for the prevention of HIV infections, as well as the care of, and support for those that are infected;
Stressing the need to enhance international and national actions to mitigate the social and economic consequences of high morbidity and mortality in countries with high HIV/AIDS prevalence, such as Sub-Saharan Africa and countries under conflict in which women and girls are especially vulnerable;
Emphasizing the urgent need to address new challenges brought by the epidemic, such as the feminisation of the pandemic, the increasing number of orphans and children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS, harm reduction or health care rights to immigrants, and mobile populations;
Calls on the international community to increase their financial support at the global level through the Global Fund to fight against Aids, Malaria and Tuberculosis, as well as at national level by supporting reproductive health programmes targeting young people, especially those aged 15-24 in order to mitigate the sexual transmission of HIV;
Further calls on transnational pharmaceutical companies to facilitate the access to, and provision of affordable generic drugs, in particular antiretroviral drugs, to national governments as well as Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and targeting vulnerable groups such as women and girls;
Appeals to governments and policy makers to ensure that they meet the agreed targets in the fight against HIV/AIDS as reflected in the UNGASS Declaration of June 2001;
Encourages countries with high prevalence rates of HIV/AIDS infections to institute policies and concrete programmes that fully integrate prevention, treatment, care and impact;
Calls on international donors and national governments to increase financial resources for research and development of HIV vaccines and microbicides as well as enhancing the sharing of information and good practices aimed at halting and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS;
Pledges to undertake, within the ACP Group, and in collaboration with its development partners and Non-Governmental Organisations, all necessary actions to continue to support the global initiatives against HIV/AIDS, such as the Global Fund to fight against Aids, Malaria and Tuberculosis (GFATM) and national and regional programmes geared to mitigate HIV/AIDS infections through intra-ACP cooperation.
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