AFRICAN SUMMIT ON HIV/AIDS,
TUBERCULOSIS AND OTHER
RELATED INFECTIOUS DISEASES
ABUJA, NIGERIA 24-27 APRIL 2001 OAU/SPS/ABUJA/3
ABUJA DECLARATION ON HIV/AIDS,
TUBERCULOSIS AND OTHER RELATED INFECTIOUS
DISEASES
We, the Heads of State and Government of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) met in Abuja, Nigeria from 26-27 April 2001, at a Special Summit devoted specifically to address the exceptional challenges of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Other Related Infectious Diseases, at the invitation of H.E. President Olusegun Obasanjo of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and in accordance with the agreement reached at the Thirty-Sixth Ordinary Session of our Assembly in Lomé, Togo from 10 to 12 July 2000.
2. We gathered in Abuja to undertake a critical review and assessment of the situation and the consequences of these diseases in Africa, and to reflect further on new ways and means whereby we, the leaders of our Continent, can take the lead in strengthening current successful interventions and developing new and more appropriate policies, practical strategies, effective implementation mechanisms and concrete monitoring structures at national, regional and continental levels with a view to ensuring adequate and effective control of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Other Related Infectious Diseases in our Continent.
3. We are deeply concerned about the rapid spread of HIV infection in our countries and the millions of deaths caused by AIDS, Tuberculosis and other related infectious diseases throughout the Continent, in spite of the serious efforts being made by our countries to control these diseases. Africa is exceptionally afflicted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This generalised epidemic is affecting a wide cross-section of our people, thus decimating the adult population, the most productive group, and leaving in its wake millions of orphans, and disrupted family structures.
4. We recognize the role played by poverty, poor nutritional conditions and underdevelopment in increasing vulnerability. We are concerned about the millions of African children who have died from AIDS and other preventable infectious diseases. We are equally concerned about the particular and severe impact that these diseases have on children and youth who represent the future of our continent, the plight of millions of children orphaned by AIDS and the impact on the social system in our countries.