Speech Transcript:
I can assure you that my country, Equatorial Guinea, is steadfast in its support for the statement made by the Heads of State and Government of the 29th African Union Ordinary Assembly Session in Addis Ababa in July 2012. We are in favor of a roadmap for shared responsibility and global solidarity in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
The world is witness to the reality around us.
We recognize the constant efforts that governments give to
mitigate and eradicate the pandemics that pandemics who harass the community of
nations. Malaria, for example, is a major cause of infant mortality in many
countries, particularly in the African continent.
The AIDS pandemic affects more than 34 million people in the
world, from which more than 20 million are in Africa representing 67% of the
people affected by this disease worldwide.
The realities and dangers of AIDS are serious and complex. AIDS
is now a global problem that is slowly eroding the potential and socio-economic
engine in many countries in our community, in particular the African continent.
This disease is killing our demographic layers such as
youth, urban and rural populations, which constitute the workforce and our
human capital.
Distinguished authorities in this room, we want to encourage
governments even more to continue the fight against AIDS by appealing to the
solidarity and support of the international community.
With the humanitarian spirit that characterizes the people
of Equatorial Guinea, we join the effort with initiatives such as the
UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Award for research in life sciences,
which encourages the international scientific community to seek remedies for diseases
that threaten the welfare and human existence, such as AIDS, tuberculosis and
malaria.
Equatorial Guinea is also funding national programs such as
preventive education against AIDS, condom distribution, and financing of anti
retrovirals for afflicted populations.
