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By
Praful Patel
Vice President, South Asia Region
The World Bank Group
Washington, DC, November 28, 2005 Welcome to this first event of the World AIDS Day week at the World Bank. I am very pleased that we have been able to bring together such distinguished panel members, including our partners from USAID, UNICEF, WHO, UNAIDS, Canadian CIDA, and UNIFEM. I particularly would like to thank Dr. James Blanchard, Dr. Stephen Moses, Dr. Ruben Del Prado, and the Reverend Ted Kerpf who have traveled long distances to be with us today. As you may know, South Asia is the region of focus for this year’s events. It is a region where the HIV/AIDS pandemic is severe, but can be curbed if priority actions are taken now. It is also a region that has seen limited but encouraging progress in some areas. Positive results have been achieved through targeted interventions aimed at reducing risk behaviors. The South Asia team at the Bank is implementing a comprehensive program to assist our partners fight the disease on many fronts. We hope this week will give us the opportunity to share what we have learned and discuss the best ways to tackle common challenges. We stand eager to learn from your efforts and ready to share our experiences. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is one of the greatest challenges facing South Asia today. With numbers now in excess of 6 million cases, we must do everything in our power to prevent HIV/AIDS from gaining a foothold in the region. It is a monumental task. South Asian countries share several factors that increase people’s vulnerability to the disease. Poverty is widespread, illiteracy rates are high, and women still face social and economic discrimination. Still today about 400 million South Asians live on less than a dollar a day. The average teenage girl in Pakistan has had less than one year’s schooling. And India alone will soon have more HIV/AIDS positive persons than any country in the world. We in the World Bank have intensified efforts across sectors to work with partners in support of national programs targeting those at higher risk of contracting the disease and reducing stigma and discrimination. In our dialogue with governments, we underline the longer-term effects of the epidemic which, of course, include the disastrous economic impacts. The Bank is currently implementing projects in nearly all South Asian countries. In India, our relationship on the HIV/AIDS front goes back to the early nineties when we helped launch the National AIDS Control Organization. Other activities in South Asia include technical assistance in Nepal, HIV assessment in Bhutan, and prevention programs in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Going forward, it is critical to have solid evidence in order to scale up and achieve and measure results. Understanding the diversity of the epidemic between and within countries is a condition for informed, prioritized, and effective responses. Today we are seeking your views and comments on the synthesis of a country-by-country analysis of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Asia. The report analyzes the potential evolution of the epidemic in this part of the world, highlights major priorities for HIV responses, and proposes a response strategy. The discussion will focus on policy and strategic implications for ourselves and our partnerships as we scale up our support to national programs in the region. Based on today’s consultation and other feedback, we will finalize this report which is the first of its kind on HIV/AIDS in the South Asia region. As you will be able to see in greater detail this morning, the spread of the disease in the region will depend on efforts to reach vulnerable groups at risk with high-impact interventions. Our experience shows that programs for vulnerable populations in South Asia work. If we do this effectively now, working closely with civil society and those affected, high-impact interventions can markedly reduce the future need to treat an increasing number of HIV/AIDS cases, providing a high return on investment. While this analysis focuses on prevention, we also acknowledge and affirm the important and complementary role of treatment. Finally, this report demonstrates the need to better understand the diversity of epidemics and tailor programs to address local contexts. I very much welcome this opportunity to speak to you today and I am looking forward to learn about the outcomes of this consultation. With that, I leave you with a visual presentation, which outlines the Bank’s work on HIV/AIDS in South Asia, and our strategy going forward. Thank you.
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