Documents

“Why AIDS is exceptional” Speech given at the London School of EconomicsLondon, 8 February 2005

15 February 2005

Is the AIDS pandemic so exceptional a threat that it is in a league altogether different
to other infectious diseases or causes of ill health? Is the pandemic so exceptional a
threat that its control should not be just one of many Millennium Development Goals
but rather an overarching priority, a prerequisite to achieving the MDGs? Is the threat
so exceptional that it demands a binding first call on the attention of political leaders
as well as on finances? So exceptional that it demands that we undertake
fundamental changes on many fronts if we are to succeed?