I am pleased to be participating in this very important meeting and to be able to address you on behalf of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). This annual Conference of Chiefs of the US Missions in the Caribbean has become a very unique and important gathering within the spectrum of opportunities to discuss this issue that is so critical for the development of the Caribbean.

Thank you ladies and gentlemen, for the opportunity to join you today during this vital discussion. First, let me congratulate Gareth Thomas and DFID for assembling such a formidable range of actors to address new prevention technologies. I note that we see today both the leading technical experts as well as politicians: every innovator knows that the best brains in the world are not enough – we need the resources, communication and politics to put new ideas into practice.

As a youngster, like for many children in India, my dream was to become a cricket player for my country. Being anything else seemed to be almost unnatural. However, this dream was detoured when I moved away from my homeland. After that, I had limited access to playing cricket - but the influence that cricket had on my life and the values it instilled in me live on in me to this day and probably will forever.

It is a privilege to share this important day with Madame Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, who has just been nominated Ambassador for the Global Fund against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria to protect mothers and children against HIV and AIDS. It is a pleasure to also share it with my colleagues in the fight against AIDS, the Executive Director of the Global Fund, Michel Kazatchkine and the Associate Director of Partnerships of UNICEF, Pascal Villeneuve.

I welcome this opportunity to mark World AIDS Day here in Doha at this important conference.

My friends - it is an honour and a pleasure to be with you here in Durban on World AIDS Day. We are here because we have reasons to celebrate and causes for concern. Last time I spoke in this stadium was in 2000, at the 13th International AIDS Conference. I will never forget seeing small, frail Nkosi Johnson standing on this stage, nor the bold words he spoke.

I arrived here yesterday from South Africa, where I saw very positive signs of strong new leadership on AIDS. The National AIDS Council has a clear agenda, and it is good to see government and civil society really rallying together to achieve this.

As everybody knows this is my last PCB meeting. It’s therefore with mixed feelings that I am addressing you. Rather than give you my usual report on the work of UNAIDS since the last since the last PCB meeting, I’d like to share some reflections on the past and future of UNAIDS and the aids response. I’m afraid I will be a bit longer than usual.

On behalf of the Chair of the Committee of Cosponsoring Organizations, Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, it is my pleasure to present the statement of the Committee of Cosponsoring Organizations.

23rd meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board