HONOURABLE PRESIDENT OF  SENATE

HONOURABLE  SPEAKER  OF  THE  NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

HONOURABLE  DEPUTY  PRIME  MINISTER

HONOURABLE DEPUTY  PRESIDENT  OF  SENATE

HONOURABLE  DEPUTY  SPEAKER  OF THE 

NATIONAL  ASSEMBLY

HONOURABLE  MEMBERS

  MAY I CRAVE YOUR INDULGENCE AND PREVAIL UPON YOU TO LEND ME YOUR EARS FOR A SHORT WHILE THIS MORNING.

  LESOTHO, LIKE THE REST OF THE DEVELOPING WORLD, IS CONCERNED ABOUT THE EVER INCREASING HIV INFECTION RATES AND THE DEVASTATING IMPACT OF HIV/AIDS ON OUR PEOPLE.  ALSO PRESSING IS THE NEED FOR CARE AND SUPPORT OF THE INCREASING NUMBER OF CHILDREN WHO HAVE  LOST  THEIR  PARENTS  TO  AIDS.

  HONOURABLE MEMBERS ARE ALSO AWARE OF THE CONCERNS OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY  ABOUT THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL IMPACT OF HIV/AIDS ON THE ECONOMIES AND SOCIETIES OF SOUTHERN AFRICA, IN PARTICULAR, AND AFRICA, IN  GENERAL.  IT WAS THIS CONCERN THAT PROMPTED THE UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY    GENERAL   TO    SEND    HIS    SPECIAL   ENVOY, MR. STEPHEN LEWIS, TO LESOTHO AND OTHER SOUTHERN AFRICAN COUNTRIES TOWARDS THE END OF LAST YEAR AND EARLY THIS YEAR.

  MADAM  SPEAKER/MR. PRESIDENT,

  ALLOW ME TO REITERATE THAT HIV/AIDS IS THE NUMBER ONE DEVELOPMENT HURDLE FOR AFRICA AND SADC.  THERE IS, THEREFORE, A VERY URGENT NEED TO CONFRONT THIS PANDEMIC AND DEAL WITH ITS IMPACT ON OUR PEOPLE AND THE LONG-TERM DEVELOPMENT OF THE ECONOMIES OF THE REGION.  AIDS HAS ALREADY KILLED MORE THAN 20 MILLION PEOPLE IN AFRICA AND ORPHANED 12 MILLION CHILDREN. MORE THAN 29 MILLION AFRICANS ARE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS TODAY, THE VAST MAJORITY OF THEM IN THE PRIME OF THEIR LIVES AS WORKERS AND PARENTS.  THE IMPACT OF AIDS IS TAKING A GROWING TOLL ON ECONOMIES AND SOCIETIES ACROSS THE CONTINENT, A TOLL WHICH WILL  MOUNT STEADILY OVER THE COMING YEARS.

IN MANY SADC COUNTRIES AIDS HAS ALREADY  ERASED THE DEVELOPMENT GAINS OF THE PAST GENERATION AND NOW HOLDS THE NEXT GENERATION HOSTAGE.  OVER THE PAST DECADE THERE HAS BEEN A RAPID INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF  ADULTS AND CHILDREN INFECTED WITH, AND DYING FROM HIV/AIDS, WITH A CORRESPONDING ADVERSE IMPACT ON THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE REGION.  STATISTICS INDICATE THAT ONE-THIRD OF ALL PERSONS LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS ARE RESIDENTS OF THE SADC COUNTRIES. AMONG THE 14 SADC MEMBERS ARE NINE OF THE TEN COUNTRIES THAT HAVE  HIGHEST HIV RATES ON EARTH, INCLUDING SEVEN WHERE THE RATE IS 20% OR HIGHER.  LESOTHO AS YOU WILL RECALL, IS AMONG THESE, WITH AN INFECTION RATE OF 31%.  SURELY, WE NEED TO INTENSIFY OUR EFFORTS TO CONTAIN THE EPIDEMIC. OTHERWISE THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE REGION WILL BE  ANNIHILATED.

  MADAM SPEAKER/MR. PRESIDENT,

  AS I HAVE ALREADY INDICATED, HIV/AIDS IS NOW REVERSING THE MAJOR SOCIO-ECONOMIC GAINS OF THE PAST THREE TO FOUR DECADES IN SUCH AREAS AS HEALTH, AGRICULTURE AND EDUCATION. HEALTH-CARE SYSTEMS ARE OVERWHELMED WITH HIV/AIDS PATIENTS AND HEALTH-CARE COSTS ARE ESCALATING AS ACUTE CONDITIONS ARE BEING CROWDED OUT.  CONDITIONS SUCH AS TUBERCULOSIS (TB) WHICH WERE ALMOST BROUGHT UNDER CONTROL IN THE 1970s, HAVE RE-EMERGED AS A RESULT OF THE HIV/AIDS PANDEMIC.  THE DEMOGRAPHIC IMPACT OF HIV/AIDS IN THE REGION HAS ALSO BEEN SERIOUS. LIFE EXPECTANCY, FOR EXAMPLE, IS ESTIMATED TO HAVE DROPPED TO 40 YEARS OR LOWER IN SEVERAL COUNTRIES, A LOSS OF ABOUT 30 YEARS.  APART FROM DIRECTLY REDUCING LIFE EXPECTANCY, AND THROUGH IT, THE SIZE OF THE OVERALL LABOUR FORCE OVER TIME, AIDS TENDS TO KILL PRIME-AGE ADULTS, MANY OF WHOM ARE SKILLED AND AT THE PEAK OF THEIR ECONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY,  AND IT REDUCES PRIVATE INVESTMENT IN BOTH SOCIAL AND HUMAN CAPITAL.

  IN MACROECONOMIC TERMS, HIV/AIDS IS LIKELY TO AFFECT THE SAVINGS/INVESTMENT RELATIONS. EXPENDITURES FOR MITIGATING THE IMPACT OF HIV/AIDS AT THE HOUSEHOLD, PRIVATE ENTERPRISE, AND PUBLIC SECTOR LEVELS ARE LIKELY TO REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF CAPITAL (BOTH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE) AVAILABLE FOR MORE PRODUCTIVE INVESTMENT.  THUS, IN THE ABSENCE OF EXTERNAL INVESTMENT FLOWS, THE HIGHER THE PROPORTION OF CARE FINANCED FROM SAVINGS, THE LARGER THE REDUCTION IN GROWTH RESULTING FROM THE EPIDEMIC.  HIV/AIDS WOULD THUS LEAD TO INCREASING PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND DECREASING GOVERNMENT REVENUES, RESULTING IN FISCAL IMBALANCES.  UNSUSTAINABLE FISCAL IMBALANCES COULD NECESSITATE CUTBACKS IN OTHER AREAS OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING IF BUDGET BALANCE IS TO BE RE-ESTABLISHED AND THIS COULD PUT PRESSURE ON THE FUNCTIONING OF GOVERNMENT.

  IN VIEW OF THE FOREGOING, THE GOVERNMENT OF LESOTHO TOOK THE INITIATIVE TO CONSULT THE WORLD BANK AND SADC ON WHAT CONCRETE ACTIONS SHOULD BE TAKEN ABOUT THIS SITUATION. FOLLOWING DISCUSSIONS, IT WAS DECIDED TO CONVENE A SADC HIV/AIDS SUMMIT IN LESOTHO TO BE ATTENDED BY HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT AND, HOPEFULLY, THE PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD BANK, IN ORDER TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE REGIONALLY AND IN A COORDINATED MANNER.

  IT IS MY PLEASURE, MADAM SPEAKER/MR PRESIDENT, TO ANNOUNCE THAT LESOTHO WILL HOST THIS SADC HIV/AIDS SUMMIT MOST PROBABLY FROM THE 7^TH TO THE 9^TH OF MAY THIS YEAR; AND THAT HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT JOSE DOS SANTOS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ANGOLA, WHO IS ALSO THE CHAIRMAN OF SADC, HAS AGREED TO CHAIR THE SUMMIT. HOWEVER, LET ME HASTEN TO WARN THAT THESE DATES, WHILE  AGREED WITH THE CHAIRMAN OF SADC, ARE STILL SUBJECT TO CONFIRMATION BY THE SADC SECRETARIAT AFTER CONSULTATIONS WITH THE VARIOUS CAPITALS INVOLVED. UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE SADC CHAIRMAN, THE SUMMIT WILL BRING TOGETHER HEADS OF  STATE AND GOVERNMENT AND MINISTERS OF SADC (ALONG WITH SELECT HIV/AIDS PROGRAMME MANAGERS IN EACH SADC COUNTRY), PRIVATE SECTOR, NGOs, COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANISATIONS, AS WELL AS PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS IN THE SADC REGION, WITH THE FOLLOWING OBJECTIVES:

•   TO FOC US AND MOBILISE GREATER LEADERSHIP ATTENTION AND REGIONAL COLLABORATION AGAINST HIV/AIDS.