WHO STATEMENT AT THE OFFICIAL OPENNING OF THE 6 TH R.A.P. MEETING OF THE TREATMENT ACCELERATION PROGRAM (T.A.P), NAIROBI, 6 DECEMBER 2007.

I with in the first place and on behalf of WHO express our sincere gratitude to the host country, the Republic of Kenya, for usual warm hospitality and the beautiful venue. We would also like to pay tribute to our partners, the World Bank and the UN Economic Commission for Africa, for the great efforts they put into preparing every aspect of this meeting. The efforts which I am sure will result in our successful deliberations in these two days.

WHO considers it a privilege to be involved with the TAP. The program has made significant contribution to efforts against HIV/AIDS in the African region in a number of ways. In the first place, it provided essential financial support to the concerned countries to scale up ARV treatment, at the time they needed it most. Secondly, the TAP followed an innovative approach to expanding service delivery through public private partnerships. This has contributed to moving PPP from concept to practice.

Thirdly, the TAP's strong emphasis on learning is important in informing scale up of old and new interventions and in ensuring that the benefits of the TAP extend far beyond the three countries involved. Lastly, for WHO the TAP has presented an opportunity of working closely with some of our partners such as the World Bank and the ECA which has led us to understand each other better and appreciate each others contribution.

A lot of progress has been made so far. HIV/AIDS services, such as VCT, PMTCT, ART and TB/HIV are being scaled up and in some cased targets have been exceeded. Collaboration between the public sector and private providers is growing. Lessons are being learnt and applied to improve service delivery. This would have not been possible without the determined efforts of the governments and the implementing partners. With the successes there have also been numerous challenges.