Bangladesh Prime Minister Addresses
2nd South Asian Parliamentary Seminar on HIV and AIDS
26-27 January 2006

The 2nd South Asian Parliamentary Seminar on HIV/AIDS held in Dhaka on 26 – 27 January 2006 of the Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) was co-organized in partnership with APLF Bangladesh.

Her Excellency, Begum Khaleda Zia, Prime Minister of Bangladesh and SAARC Chairperson, addressed the seminar. In her address, PM Zia for the first time spoke publicly about the threat of HIV and AIDS in the region and described it as a global development crisis. She said that experiences indicate that HIV and AIDS is no more a racial, class or religious bias -- “No country can claim immunity from HIV epidemic”. PM Zia further called for concerted political action and urged everyone to do so at local, national, regional and international levels. She cited recent actions taken by SAARC leaders namely: endorsement of the first SAARC regional strategy on HIV and AIDS developed in partnership with UNAIDS at the 13 th SAARC Summit; ratification of the SAARC convention on trafficking of women and children which aims to protect women and children from trafficking and also helps prevent the spread of HIV; and inclusion of HIV and AIDS issues in the approved SAARC development goals. PM Zia concluded with the statement --“I can assure you that our government will give the highest importance to the recommendations of the seminar”.

Dr. Nafis Sadik, Special Envoy to UN Secretary General for HIV and AIDS in Asia and APLF Steering Committee member delivered the keynote address in the Seminar. She also met separately with HE Prime Minister Zia and thanked her for getting the first SAARC HIV/AIDS strategy endorsed under her auspices as SAARC Chairperson of the November summit.