Ashgabat, 1 December 2008

 Since 1988, World AIDS Day has been a day of global solidarity for an epidemic that has led to over 25 million deaths. In January 1988, after positive reactions to the idea of World AIDS Day by over 100 health ministers, the World Health Organization declared in London the 1st of December 1988 as the first World AIDS Day. The initiative received the full support of the UN General Assembly. World AIDS Day provides a platform for people working on AIDS at any level to become involved and feel part of the global response.  

We are reminded this year that an estimated 33 million people currently live with HIV worldwide. The region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia could be characterized as the region with growing prevalence rates and risks. Since 2001, when the United Nations Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS was signed, the number of people living with HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia rose to 1.6 million in 2007.  

The global initiative to combat HIV/AIDS received paramount importance and is reflected in the Millennium Development Goals. The international community has achieved a lot in its efforts to combat HIV/AIDS. Indeed, as declared by Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS, “presidents and prime ministers, doctors and lawyers, scientists and schoolteachers, chief executives and trade union leaders, religious groups and communities, and – critically – people living with HIV, are coming together in a brilliant coalition that has proved that, with clear targets and strong commitment, we can move mountains.” 

In Turkmenistan, together with Government, civil society and the international community, we must strengthen measures to combat the potential epidemic in Turkmenistan. Prevention programmes need to target risk groups, such as young people, injecting drug users, prisoners and sex workers. We should also aim at providing wider access to such essential services as voluntary and confidential testing, counseling, treatment and support, including access to information about HIV/AIDS for each citizen of Turkmenistan. 

The theme of World AIDS Day 2008 is "Lead – Empower - Deliver" with a special focus on leadership. Leadership required to address AIDS must come from many people at all levels. As UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has stated “The challenge now is to sustain leadership. We have to build on what we have started. And we have to maintain this momentum.”