Opening remarks by His Excellency, Dr. Kenneth D. Kaunda, First President of Zambia, at the Interactive session of the Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa (CHGA).

Venue: Casablanca, Morocco.

Date: 22nd April, 2005

Mr. Chairman and Executive Secretary of ECA, Mr. K.Y. Amoako;
His Excellency, Dr Pascoal Mocumbi, former Prime Minister of Mozambique and fellow Patron;
Honourable Minister of Health of Ethiopia, Dr. Kebede Tadesse;
Dr. Fouad Hammadi, Secretary General of the Ministry of Health, representing the Honourable Minister of Health of Morocco, Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah;
Distinguished Commissioners;
Ladies and Gentlemen.

It is a great honour for me to be at this interactive session of our Commission in the Kingdom of Morocco. I wish in this regard to extend our sincere gratitude and appreciation to the His Majesty Mohammed VI, the Government and the people of this great country for hosting us. We are grateful for their gracious hospitality.

Mr. Chairman, it is important that the interactive sessions of our work have been held in various regions of our beloved continent. This arrangement has facilitated inter-state dialogue and knowledge sharing which are key factors in the fight against HIV/AIDS. For we do need to share information of the experience of other stakeholders including Governments, non-governmental organisatoins and individuals, if we are to be successful in this crusade.

Distinguished Commissioners, the AIDS pandemic in Africa, especially in sub-Saharan Africa requires urgent and well coordinated response measures as the situation has been compounded by high poverty levels. As has been rightly noted, poverty in Africa and stagnation constitute the greatest tragedy of our time. This situation has serious consequences on populations and productivity at the workplace.

The UNAIDS secretariat has recently launched an important publication entitled “AIDS in Africa: Three Scenarios to 2025”. This publication which is now a public document, provides food for thought on what could happen in Africa by the year 2025 if our Governments and other stakeholders do not take the right measures to prevent the further spread of HIV/AIDS. As we begin to consider what recommendations to make, it may be useful to look at this publication.

Mr. Chairman, the response to HIV/AIDS of the International Community has so far taken many different forms, including prevention measures, public awareness campaign, and the use of drugs, especially ARVs. There is however, one aspect in the fight against the AIDS pandemic which the world has not yet critically looked at. This is about the use of nutrition in the management of HIV/AIDS.

Distinguished delegates, I am not a medical doctor, neither an expert in this field. But I am aware of some research taking place at the clinic under the auspices of my foundation, namely “The Kenneth Kaunda Children of Africa Foundation. This research seems promising regarding the important role of nutrition plays in the management of HIV/AIDS. In my view, we need both nutrition and drugs to help patients to get better.

In view of what I have just said, I would like to appeal to the Commission that as we consider what recommendations to make in our final report, we should appeal for more funding for increased research on nutritional interventions.

The Commission may also wish to consider the question of the stringent conditionalities that are attached to some of the assistance from the developed world. Some of the conditionalities may not be in the interest of Africa’s efforts against HIV/AIDS.

Let me at this point in time thank the organisations which are working with my foundation in mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS on orphans and other vulnerable children. We are receiving assistance form the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UNICEF and SIDA of Sweden. The SIDA programme covers the SADC region on food security and nutrition.

Africa is facing a serious crisis due to HIV/AIDS. This crisis demands the full attention of the International Community. Indeed, it requires the total commitment of all stakeholders, on country, regional and international levels. We need to establish networks and partnerships at various levels. We need to share information on the different strategies that different organisations are using to fight this pandemic. We must intensify the fight against the disease at all fronts until we attain success.

Let our Governments in Africa take the lead in the fight against HIV/AIDS in their respective countries. Let the International Community scale up its assistance to Africa in our efforts against HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

Yes, we must intensify this fight until we conquer AIDS.

I thank you for your attention.

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