HEALTH-AIDS: United Nations Commitment in Third World Plague Fight
GENEVA, Dic 16 (IPS) - The new director of the United Nations Programme against AIDS, Peter Piot, Friday revealed a special commitment he has made to the Third World to fight the dreaded disease.
At a press conference here he repeated that his objective would be to work for the health of all communities -- especially those in the developing countries.
Piot's appointment to head this new U.N. agency was announced in New York Dec. 12 by the secretary-general of the world forum, Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
Piot, a Belgian doctor, has been carrying out research on the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) for the past 10 years.
Since 1992 he has been assistant director of the research programme fighting the global plague, coordinated by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Between 1991 and 1994 Piot, 45, was president of the International AIDS Society, the main organiser of international conferences on the disease.
He said his task would be to implement the new anti-AIDS programme, which coordinates the work of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO).
Also participating in the programme are the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Bank and WHO.
According to U.N. estimates, some 17 million people have caught the AIDS virus, and by 2,000 the number of persons infected may rise to 40 million.
WHO director-general Hiroshi Nakajima noted in a communique' the great challenge facing the anti-AIDS programme. He added that the world was faced with a pandemic which endangers the lives of everybody -- with no exceptions.
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