Keynote address at the international women’s summit: Women’s Leadership on HIV and AIDS
Nairobi, Kenya
5 July 2007

Women can turn the tide in HIV/AIDS epidemic

Dr Margaret Chan
Director-General of the World Health Organization

Your Excellency, President Kibaki, honourable representatives of the Government of Kenya, representatives of the YWCA, colleagues from the United Nations system, ladies and gentlemen,

First let me thank the World YWCA Council for organizing this event, and the government of Kenya for hosting it.

In December 2003, the 3 by 5 initiative was launched here in Kenya on World AIDS Day. The initiative was the vision of my predecessor, Dr JW Lee.

At that time, more than four million Africans were in need of antiretroviral treatment. Only 100,000 of these people were receiving treatment.

The initiative did not have a perfect strategy. There was no guarantee of success.

Not every problem of eligibility, logistics, implementation, and funding had been solved.

The sceptics were certain that something so complex as antiretroviral therapy could not work in resource-poor settings.

They said doctors could not prescribe. Patients could not comply. Governments could not pay.

But an engine was set in motion. The spirit – the force that drove that engine – was pure and simple: something must be done!

The 3 by 5 initiative was also an appeal to fairness. Is it fair to deny access to life-sustaining treatment for reasons of country of birth, income level, or social status?

That argument was compelling.

Research offered simplified treatment regimens. Commitment increased, as did funds. NGOs, activists, and civil society rallied.

Drug prices dropped. People were brought back to life by these “resurrection” drugs.

Last year we saw a very important milestone. The number of people in sub-Saharan Africa receiving these drugs passed the one million mark.

That is proof of principle. It can be done.

We have seen a second milestone: a commitment to universal access to prevention, treatment, care, and support for all who need it by 2010.

We must all work together to make sure this promise is kept.

We have seen considerable progress, but we are still running behind this devastating, unforgiving epidemic.

For every person starting treatment, another six people will become newly infected within a year.

How can we catch up?

I believe there are three critical pathways to follow.

First, we must steam ahead, full power, in the quest for universal access to treatment and care. It is the only fair and humane course to take.

Second, we must seize every opportunity for prevention. This is the only way to catch up.

We need to catch up on the prevention of HIV infections in infants. The principle of fairness dictates that we do so.

Half a million infants are born with HIV each year. Around 80% of them are born in sub-Saharan Africa.

In affluent countries, mother-to-child transmission of HIV has been virtually eliminated.

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