ADDIS ABABA (November 29, 2005)-As one of the hardest hit countries by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Ethiopia once again prepares itself to commemorate the World AIDS Day on December 1, 2005 with the global theme - "Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise." The campaign is about accountability reminding global partners, national leaders and the public at large that HIV/AIDS remains to be a threat to humanity.
"We are all accountable and need to play a meaningful role in stopping AIDS and reversing the impact in our society," spoke the Ethiopian President Ato Girma Wolde-Giorgis in his public address on the eve of World AIDS Day on November 30, 2005.
The campaign supports the advocacy efforts not only for the fulfillment of the UN Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS but also many other promises since then. The campaign will focus on keeping these commitments to stop AIDS at all levels: personal, community, organizational, governmental.
The Minister of Health H.E. Dr. Tedros Adhanom is spearheading the advocacy activities in Ethiopia bringing the campaign to a high level towards the fulfillment of the commitments entered by Ethiopia as a UN member state. The campaign will stay at its peak until the end of April and will continue throughout 2006. The team, led by H.E. Dr. Tedros, will address the members of Parliament on December 1, 2005 on the campaign goal, current HIV/AIDS status in Ethiopia and challenges ahead in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Prior to the address, members of parliament will visit patients in hospitals, children in orphanages as well as care and support centers for infected and affected. Related events simultaneously take place in all the regions of Ethiopia on the World AIDS Day.
Currently, there are 1.6 million Ethiopians living with HIV/AIDS and in the year 2004 close to 197,000 individuals died due to AIDS related illnesses in Ethiopia. A total of 1.2 million Ethiopians have been lost to the epidemic. Close to 700,000 have become orphans as a result of AIDS. The national prevalence rate is steadily on the rise and currently according to the Ministry of Health 5th Report projected for the year 2005 is 4.6 percent.
World AIDS Day is marked every year in Ethiopia with the commemoration of those
who were lost to the pandemic. It is a day on which successes and achievements
in the battle against AIDS are celebrated and publicly shared.
Contacts:
Ato Solomon Abate
HAPCO PR
Tel: 09 11 20 81 18
Wz. Selamawit Mamo
ARC Media Liaison Officer
Tel: 09 11 48 59 87