Lack of Political Commitment Contributing To Spread of HIV, Ugandan President Says
A lack of political commitment in fighting HIV/AIDS has contributed to the spread of the disease worldwide, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said on Sunday at the opening session of the 11th International Conference for People Living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda, the Associated Press reports (Wasswa, Associated Press, 10/26). "Achieving a rolldown of the AIDS impact calls for strong political leadership, as lack of this has continued to be an impediment in the HIV/AIDS fight in many countries, especially in Africa," Museveni said (AFP/Yahoo! News, 10/26). An estimated 800 delegates, 250 of them from Uganda, are expected to attend the conference, which opened on Sunday (Agence France-Presse, 10/26). The conference, which has the theme "The Dawn of New Positive Leadership," will focus on the role of HIV-positive people in leading the campaign for increased prevention efforts and treatment access (UNAIDS release, 10/26). The conference will also address access to clean water and nutrition for HIV-positive people (AFP/Yahoo! News, 10/26). The conference was organized by the Global Network of People Living With HIV/AIDS and the National Guidance and Empowerment Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda. "People living with HIV/AIDS have always been on the frontline of prevention and care strategies. This conference will identify new approaches to ensure that national AIDS action strategies can fully benefit from the unique contribution of affected communities," Ben Plumley, chief of the executive office at UNAIDS, said during the opening session (UNAIDS release, 10/26). Also during the opening session, Museveni called on African countries to invest in research instead of leaving the cost of research to other countries, and he said that African governments should improve the flow of information on AIDS (Agence France-Presse, 10/26).
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