A/RES/58/179
Expressing its support for the work of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria and that of other international bodies combating such
pandemics,
Bearing in mind World Health Assembly resolutions WHA55.12 and
WHA55.14, both of 18 May 2002, 8 and WHA56.30 of 28 May 2003, 9
Bearing in mind also the International Labour Organization Code of Practice
on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work, adopted by the Governing Body of the
International Labour Organization in June 2001, 10
Taking note of general comment No. 14 (2000) on the right to the highest
attainable standard of physical and mental health (article 12 of the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), adopted by the Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at its twenty-second session, 11
Taking note also of general comment No. 3 (2003) on HIV/AIDS and the
rights of the child, adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child at its
thirty-second session, 12
Alarmed that the HIV/AIDS pandemic claimed 3.1 million lives in 2002, that
about 42 million people were living with HIV by the end of 2002 and that 25 million
children under the age of 15, including 20 million in Africa, are projected to lose
one or both parents by 2010 owing to HIV/AIDS,
Fully aware that the failure to deliver antiretroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS to
the millions of people who need it is a global health emergency,
Recalling its resolution 57/294 of 20 December 2002, entitled “2001–2010:
Decade to Roll Back Malaria in Developing Countries, Particularly in Africa”,
Alarmed that, according to the global Roll Back Malaria Partnership, malaria
annually causes more than 1 million deaths, around 90 per cent of which are in
Africa, that it is the leading cause of death in young children and that it causes at
least 300 million cases of acute illness each year,
Also alarmed that, according to the World Health Organization global
tuberculosis control report of 2003, 13 tuberculosis kills about 2 million people each
year, that 7 to 8 million people around the world become sick with tuberculosis each
year and that it is projected that 36 million people will die of tuberculosis between
2002 and 2020 if control is not further strengthened,
Acknowledging the significance of HIV/AIDS in the increase in tuberculosis
and other opportunistic diseases,
Welcoming the initiatives of the Secretary-General and relevant United Nations
agencies, States and civil society, including the private sector, to make drugs related
to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria more accessible and affordable to infected
_______________
8
See World Health Organization, Fifty-fifth World Health Assembly, Geneva, 13-18 May 2002,
Resolutions and Decisions, Annexes (WHA55/2002/REC/1).
9
Ibid., Fifty-sixth World Health Assembly, Geneva, 19-28 May 2003, Resolutions and Decisions, Annexes
(WHA56/2003/REC/1).
10
ILO/AIDS/2001/2.
11
Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2001, Supplement No. 2 (E/2001/22), annex IV.
12
CRC/GC/2003/3.
13
WHO/CDS/TB/2003/316.
2