U.N. Launches Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa; Group To Create Plan To Fight Disease
The United Nations today in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, officially launched the Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa, which will devise policies to help African governments cope with the impact of the disease in their countries, BBC News reports (BBC News, 9/17). U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in February announced plans to create the commission, saying that "[n]owhere is an effective African response more critical than in the fight against AIDS" (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 2/21). The 20-member commission, which will be chaired by Kingsley Amoako, executive secretary of the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa, will issue a report in June 2005 analyzing the governance and development threats posed by the epidemic. The commission will also address the impact of the scale-up of antiretroviral programs on health infrastructure and the impact of the disease on development issues (U.N. News Service, 9/16). The report is expected to be used as a tool for future advocacy and policy engagement efforts, according to an ECA release. Other members of the commission include Richard Feachem, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; Seyyid Abdulai, director general of the OPEC Fund for International Development; Peter Piot, executive director of UNAIDS; Dr. Mamphele Ramphele, managing director of the World Bank; and Joy Phumaphi, assistant director general of the World Health Organization (ECA release, 9/16).
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