SPEECH

MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
ALEXANDER DOWNER

Asia Pacific Leadership Forum on HIV/AIDS and Development

Speech by the Hon Alexander Downer, MP, Minister for Foreign Affairs, at the launch of the Asia Pacific Leadership Forum on HIV/AIDS and Development, ASEAN PMC, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, 1 August 2002.

Minister Pehin Abu Bakar; Secretary General Severino; Dr Werasit; Ladies and gentlemen

Regional discussions such as this week's ASEAN meetings in Brunei give us the opportunity to consider broader issues that affect us all across our borders.

HIV/AIDS is such an issue. It represents one of the major development challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region.

Sadly, we are all too familiar with the numbers associated with HIV/AIDS. Globally, 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS.

Our own region, the Asia-Pacific, has the largest regional concentration of HIV outside of sub-Saharan Africa. There are now some 7.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS in our region - with more than 3,000 new infections every day.

HIV is having a very real detrimental impact on the social, economic and cultural development of many countries. Where the virus takes hold, it can be a major threat to sovereignty and security.

HIV is a clever virus, which adapts and attacks like no other. I'm not here to give you a science lesson on the behaviour of the virus, but I want to highlight the nature of HIV, because this is what we're fighting.

HIV does not have a national identity. Its home is its host cells - whether they are in Brunei, China, Papua New Guinea or Australia.

We are fighting this virus because it has the potential to undermine the development gains that we have been striving for.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to speak here today at the launch of an initiative that is aimed at assisting the regional response in the fight against HIV.

The Asia Pacific Leadership Forum for HIV/AIDS and Development - or APLF - will enable decision-makers and leaders in the region to share their experiences, and to support each other.

The APLF stems from a meeting I convened in Melbourne in October 2001. Thirty-one Ministers from the Region attended the Ministerial Meeting for HIV/AIDS and Development, including eight from ASEAN. This was the first time Ministers from our region had gathered to consider the impact of HIV/AIDS on our region, and priorities for action.

We agreed to establish a Forum to encourage and reinforce leadership efforts on HIV/AIDS within our region. We did so because we recognised that political leadership and commitment is a crucial element of a successful effort against the epidemic.

We did so because as ministers, political leaders and parliamentary representatives, we have a special responsibility to plan, advocate and implement policies and programs to combat HIV/AIDS, nationally and internationally.

Today I would like to acknowledge the efforts and the example of ASEAN, which has recognised the challenge of HIV/AIDS. ASEAN Leaders, the ASEAN Secretariat and the ASEAN HIV/AIDS Task Force have developed a strong program of activities aimed at combating the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Australia has been working with our partners in the region, particularly UNAIDS, to develop the APLF.

I am pleased to advise that Australia has already provided over one million dollars to UNAIDS, to coordinate APLF activities and support shared learning sessions for key leaders from government and civil society around the region.

I very much hope that participants in the sessions can grapple with the difficult issues which the HIV/AIDS epidemic brings - issues of planning and priorities, of prevention and treatment, of economic and social impact, and of how to address cultural differences and sensitivities.

To build the APLF as an effective regional partnership, we are also working with UNAIDS to attract the interest and resources of other organisations. I am very pleased that the UK agency, the Department for International Development, has indicated in-principle support of half a million pounds for the APLF.

Of course, the APLF must complement work on HIV/AIDS that is already happening in the region - by national governments, by regional organisations such as ASEAN, and by donors.

I can speak for Australia's efforts. I announced at this meeting two years ago in Bangkok that Australia would commence a six-year, $200 million Global AIDS initiative. We have now spent well over $50 million on activities directly aimed at reducing HIV infections - and we are continuing to build on this work with new projects, with our partners within the ASEAN region and beyond.

In conclusion: the fight against HIV/AIDS will require concerted action by all governments and all sectors. As a part of this effort, I commend the APLF to you as a regional initiative which will contribute to an effective response to the epidemic, for the benefit of the people of the Asia Pacific.