Principles of Collaboration when Confronting the AIDS Crisis in Africa
We, leaders representing African, United States and international interests, public and private, participants in Africa Now! A Leadership Summit to Define African Priorities for AIDS, meeting in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, from November 12 through November 14, 2000,
Recognizing the catastrophic impact of HIV and AIDS on human health and development, and the social and economic burden this epidemic places on the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa,
Affirming our commitment to the goals of the International Partnership Against AIDS in Africa (IPAA),
Acting in the spirit of collective responsibility,
Urge all African leaders to:
1. Fully assume their leadership role in addressing the HIV and AIDS epidemic in an open and frank manner;
2. Attach the highest priority to applying the most appropriate and effective responses to this epidemic across all sectors of every country’s development agenda;
3. Strengthen national efforts to address the HIV and AIDS crisis, focusing on measures to reduce the spread and impact of HIV and AIDS, and on the delivery of services to those infected, affected, and vulnerable to infection, with attention to human rights principles; and support and encourage efforts to overcome stigma and negative stereotyping through community based human rights education and dissemination of information.
4. Facilitate partnership-building at the local, regional, and international levels, including the mobilization of civil society and inter-country collaborative efforts to build capacity and share human, financial and technical resources and information networks.
Urge all leaders in the United States to:
1. Demonstrate commitment to confront AIDS in Africa through partnerships with African nations at the level of both government and civil society;
2. Provide urgent and substantially increased grant support for HIV and AIDS programs and evidence-based interventions as a critical part of overall development for Africa, guided by National Strategies for HIV and AIDS;
3. Intensify efforts with African Nations to mobilize human, technical, and financial resources, and promote a complete cancellation of external debt for affected countries when the savings are used for health priorities including HIV and AIDS control;
4. Foster mechanisms that dramatically reduce the spread and impact of the epidemic, and improve access to anti-retroviral and HIV related pharmaceuticals in developing countries, including support for the infrastructure necessary for safe drug access.
5. Substantially increase the financial commitment for research and research capacity development that is specifically designed to help solve the problems of AIDS in Africa: vaccines designed for those viruses that predominate in Africa, microbicides, rapid diagnostics, and other experimental prevention and treatment programs that are designed specifically for Africa, and are needed to end the epidemic; and to assure access to these in a timely fashion for all those who are at risk;
We therefore commit ourselves to the achievement of the above goals by signing the following Principles of Collaboration when Confronting the AIDS Crisis in Africa:
1. African priorities must be in the forefront and African leadership the guiding force for collective African and United States efforts against HIV and AIDS in Africa;
2. Sustainable solutions to overcome the epidemic must be found through the long-term commitment of both African and United States leaders, with mutual accountability and transparency; and
3. Partnerships created to address the epidemic within each African nation must benefit the public health, human rights, and well being of individuals within that nation.
Thus, let us join hands in the spirit of our common humanity to unite together for our common goal. Let us ensure that the health and well being of every woman, man, and child in Africa is fully realized, and let us all share in the benefits of scientific progress and human development in the new millennium.
