US embassy cable - 02HARARE2738

Disclaimer: This site has been first put up 15 years ago. Since then I would probably do a couple things differently, but because I've noticed this site had been linked from news outlets, PhD theses and peer rewieved papers and because I really hate the concept of "digital dark age" I've decided to put it back up. There's no chance it can produce any harm now.

Identifier:	02HARARE2738
Wikileaks:	View 02HARARE2738 at Wikileaks.org
Origin:	Embassy Harare
Created:	2002-12-02 13:46:00
Classification:	UNCLASSIFIED
Tags:	KPAO KMDR ZI
Redacted:	This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.

UNCLAS HARARE 002738 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/PD, AF/S, AF/RA, AF/PDPA 
NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER 
LONDON FOR GURNEY 
PARIS FOR NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, KMDR, ZI 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION WORLD AIDS DAY; HARARE 
 
 
  1.   Under headline "The AIDS pandemic in Southern Africa" 
      the pro-government weekly "The Sunday Mirror" dedicated its 
      December 1 editorial to calling for "political commitment" 
      in the fight against HIV/AIDS, adding that "there should 
      also be financial commitment to allocate enough money to 
      programs of prevention and those that alleviate the 
      suffering of infected persons."  Excerpts: 
 
  2.   "As the world commemorates World Aids Day today, the 
      latest United Nations report on HIV/AIDS indicates 
      that the epidemic is getting worse in Southern 
      Africa. . .The U. N. report links the devastation of 
      the AIDS pandemic to the current drought and famine 
      in a number of countries in Southern Africa, and 
      predicts more suffering for the region. . .It is 
      estimated that more than 14 million people are now 
      on the brink of starvation in Lesotho, Malawi, 
      Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. . .The 
      HIV/AIDS pandemic is real.  In order for Southern 
      Africa and indeed for Africa as a whole to win the 
      fight against AIDS, there is need for action beyond 
      just awareness campaigns.  There must be political 
      commitment to implement multi-sectoral national 
      strategies to combat the spread of the disease. 
      There should also be financial commitment to 
      allocate enough money to programs of prevention and 
      those that alleviate the suffering of infected 
      persons.  Above all, the fight against HIV/AIDS is 
      not an individual fight, there is need for combined 
      effort.  Just as most African countries have 
      national programs and strategies to deal with the 
      HIV/AIDS pandemic, it is time to think of a SADC 
      regional strategy to fight the disease and, 
      eventually perhaps, an African continental plan to 
      combat HIV/AIDS." 
 
SULLIVAN