Foreign and Military Affairs

Wen urges more int'l cooperation to fight AIDS

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-09-23 07:42

Wen urges more int'l cooperation to fight AIDS

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao speaks during a UN panel on anti-AIDS efforts at UN headquarters in New York, September 22, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

UNITED NATIONS - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao attended a UN panel Wednesday to discuss ways to enhance anti-AIDS efforts as part of a global campaign to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Initiated by the Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the panel is co-hosted by China, Nigeria and South Africa at the UN headquarters.

During the meeting, Wen and other world leaders illustrated developing countries' determination to cope with HIV/AIDS and achieve the MDGs, called for further cooperation among developing countries and called on developed nations and the international community to honor their commitments.

"To fight against HIV/AIDS is the common responsibility of mankind," Wen said.

Delivering a speech during the panel discussion, Wen put forward a five-point proposal on fighting against the HIV/AIDS.

-- Developed countries should honor in good faith their commitments and provide necessary financial and technical assistance to developing countries.

-- Developing countries should actively draw upon successful international practices and keep exploring ways of HIV/AIDS prevention and control that fit their national conditions.

-- The World Health Organization, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and other international institutions should step up coordination, mobilize resources from multiple sources and make good use of their professional expertise to help developing countries, sub-Saharan African countries in particular, improve HIV/AIDS prevention and control.

-- The international community should intensify cooperation on HIV/AIDS-related scientific research, advance the research and development of HIV vaccines and anti-retroviral drugs, and further improve the treatment plans.

-- Multinational medical institutions and pharmaceutical companies must assume their social responsibilities, make real efforts to bring down the cost of HIV/AIDS treatment and drugs, and appropriately ease the intellectual property requirements on related drugs and medical technologies. This will help patients throughout the world gain access to affordable, convenient and effective treatment.

Wen said China has mounted a campaign against HIV/AIDS since the first HIV infection was detected in China in 1985.

Since then, China has reported 319,877 HIV/AIDS cases and 49,845 deaths by October last year, according to China's Ministry of Health.

The statistics only include cases reported by medical facilities.

However, the number of new HIV carriers and AIDS patients in China had dropped from about 70,000 in 2005 to 50,000 in 2007 and 48,000 last year, Chinese Health Minister Chen Zhu told a press briefing last week.

"The fast spread of HIV/AIDS in China has been basically brought under control. We are confident that we will meet the MDG on HIV/AIDS by 2015," Wen said in the speech Wednesday.