According to the Financial Times, Dr Peter Piot, Director of the UN Joint Programme on AIDS, has criticized both the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the 'New Partnership for Africa’s Development' (NEPAD) for their inadequate response to HIV and AIDS. In speaking to the plenary session of the Johannesburg summit, Dr Piot appears to have been more diplomatic, although his message is still clear enough to anyone who wants to hear it.
In the text of his speech released before he spoke on 30 August, Dr Piot said: ’AIDS is the shadow that hangs over all the deliberations at this summit. If we continue to allow AIDS to drain human resources at an increasing rate, sustainable development will be impossible. Quite simply, if you don’t survive, you cannot develop.’
This closely echoes earlier comments on NEPAD made by Stephen Lewis, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on AIDS in Africa, reported here.
Dr Piot continued, 'The sobering reality is that in the countries most affected by the AIDS epidemic we are at the beginning of a human resource crisis which will only get worse unless infected people are treated and prevention efforts are decisively scaled-up. This crisis will not only significantly undermine progress towards sustainable development, but it will even “undevelop” some [of] the worst affected countries.'
'The impact of AIDS is fundamentally a human impact. Teachers, farmers, miners, doctors, and administrators are all being lost in large numbers to AIDS. AIDS is stripping away the human resources and capacities on which the future of sustainable development depends.'
Taking two examples, Dr Piot focused on the impact on young people and on food security, an issue which has overshadowed the summit as a number of surrounding countries, heavily affected by HIV, are facing imminent famine.
‘First, young people. Half all new infections are in people under 25 years old. In many of the world’s poorest countries, the first half of this century will see a major bulge in the youth population. Theirs is the generation which stands to be devastated by AIDS. Some will die prematurely, but a much larger number will see their lives destabilised. Millions of children will be deprived of adult care and guidance. An AIDS-ravaged generation of youth constitutes not only a human tragedy, but a basic threat to communal security. In such a context, societies themselves become unsustainable.
'Second, rural life. AIDS undermines food security as food reserves, livestock and land are sold to pay health costs. Impoverishment rapidly follows the appearance of AIDS. The loss of agricultural skills means the food impact of AIDS will resound for generations. As urbanization continues, rural areas threaten to become unsustainable repositories of the very young, the very old and the sick. And AIDS exacerbates food crises, such as the one currently emerging in southern Africa.
'Investing in AIDS is good investment, but we are still far from the funding needed reverse the spread of HIV, treat the infected and support the orphans left behind. UNAIDS estimates that AIDS spending in low and middle income countries needs to rise to $10 billion dollars per year, three times its current level. Finding these resources is our collective challenge. If the world is to stand any chance of meeting its aspirations for sustainable development, then our action agenda must include a full-scale attack on AIDS.'
These themes are developed further in a new UNAIDS report, HIV/AIDS, human resources and sustainable development (available in pdf format in English, 968kb, here).
NEPAD is the programme advocated, with limited success, at the recent G8 meeting in Canada by African presidents including Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, based on the idea of pegging increased debt relief to pledges of better government and investment in development objectives.