NEW YORK (CNS/Leader): Vatican has welcomed an international commitment to fight HIV/AIDS, adopted by consensus at a June 25-27 special session of the UN General Assembly, but has expressed some reservations and regrets in a “statement of interpretation”.
The Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, the draft of which was developed by Australia’s UN ambassador, Penny Wensley, and her Sengalese counterpart, Ibra Deguene Kay, was adopted after references to homosexuals, sex workers and drug users were dropped due to pressure from the Vatican and Muslim nations.
The declaration’s main points include:
* Developing and financing national strategies for combating AIDS by 2003.
* A 25 per cent reduction in the HIV infection rate in people aged 15-24 in the worst affected nations by 2005.
* A 20 per cent reduction in the number of infants infected with HIV by 2005 and a 50 per cent reduction by 2010.
* Increasing the availability of drugs to treat HIV, particularly by reducing prices in poorer countries by 2003.
