Nineteen mayors attending the Fourth Summit of Mayors and Leaders from Africa and of African Descent in Ghana Wednesday signed a declaration to end the AIDS epidemic in their cities.
The 19 mayors, including six from the Western hemisphere, signed on to the Paris Declaration – Fast-Track Cities Initiative: Ending the AIDS Epidemic Cities Achieving 90-90-90 targets by 2020.
In signing the Paris Declaration, the mayors commit to putting cities on the Fast-Track to ending the AIDS epidemic through a set of commitments.
Those commitments include achieving the UNAIDS 90-90-90, which will result in 90 percent of people living with HIV knowing their HIV status, 90 percent of people who know their HIV-positive status on antiretroviral treatment; and 90 percent of people on treatment with suppressed viral loads, keeping them healthy and reducing the risk of HIV transmission.
The 2014 Paris Declaration includes commitments to focus on the communities most affected by HIV; mobilize resources for the better integration of public health and development; build and accelerate urban HIV strategies, and to use the AIDS response as a catalyst for positive social transformation.
So far, more than 75 mayors around the world have initialed the Declaration since December last year.
The Paris Declaration is an opportunity for the mayors to use their own AIDS response as a catalyst to transform society for the better.
In a message to delegates at the Summit, Michel Sidibe, Executive Secretary of the UNAIDS, said the mayors and city leaders who had signed the Paris Declaration were now turning their commitments into pragmatic action to deliver services to inhabitants of their cities and those who used city services.
?We count on you, leaders of some of the most dynamic urban spaces in the world, to respond to the Fast-Track challenge with vision, creativity and commitment,? said Sidibe.
?Together, we can have an opportunity to change the trajectory of cities HIV and TB epidemics leaving a lasting legacy that future generations will hold in gratitude,? he said. Enditem
-Xinhua
