This is the first time the Programme Coordinating Board has met in the Caribbean –
and it is highly appropriate that it does so now. While much of the world’s attention
has turned to the burgeoning epidemics in India and China, the Caribbean, with an
estimated HIV adult prevalence rate of 2.3%, has the second highest prevalence
rates of HIV infection behind sub -Saharan Africa, and HIV infections continue to
increase. Just two weeks ago, UNAIDS and WHO released the latest figures which
indicate that among adults aged 15 to 44, AIDS has become the leading cause of
death in the Caribbean. There is also evidence to suggest that these rates of
prevalence are worsening in a majority of Caribbean countries.

May I begin by congratulating you, Mr Thibault, on assuming the chair of this
meeting, and say how much I look forward to working with you and Canada in the
coming year.

Follow up by UNAIDS Executive Director Dr. Peter Piot to “The Global Response to AIDS: ‘Making the Money Work’ The Three Ones in Action” meeting on March 9th 2005 in London in which he communicates the structure and organisation of the Global Task Team and The Resource Needs Steering Committee.

Progess Update on the Global Task Team and the Resource Needs Steering Committee by Dr. Peter Piot, UNAIDS Executive Director, on the necessity for the two groups to work together and interact.

I would like to emphasize that the impact of the epidemic is now starkly visible in the worst affected countries. Impacts on productivity, including agriculture, lead to knock-on effects in households. In the private sector AIDS undermines development by killing skilled and unskilled labour alike, increasing expenditures and reducing revenue.

In welcoming you to this 12th meeting of the PCB, I want to reflect on what has been a momentous year. For the first time, there is a real sense that the scale of the global HIV epidemic will be matched by the scale of the response. UNAIDS is now clearly operating in a very different context than when we started six years ago. And it is fair to say that we have been a major actor in shaping this different environment. This presentation will focus on how we are responding to the new reality.

This meeting of the PCB is among the most important in the Programme’s short history. My report on the Future Directions for UNAIDS responds to the recommendations of the Final Report of the Evaluation Team on the Five Year Evaluation by proposing specific operational actions to take the Programme forward.