Ambassador Moriarty Remarks for HIV/AIDS Media Summit, November 21, 2005

Mr. Lyndal Barry of Internews Network;
Mr. Rajendra Dahal of Himal Magazine
Ladies and Gentlemen:
 
Namaste and good morning.  It is a great pleasure to be here today at the opening of the “Nepal Media Leaders HIV/AIDS Initiative.”  I am especially pleased to see such a diverse group of Nepali media leaders along with His Majesty’s Government, donors such as USAID and UNAIDS, and members of vulnerable groups and people living with HIV/AIDS.  All of our efforts are needed to fight this disease in Nepal more effectively.
 
As the UNAIDS executive director recently told members of the U.S. Congress: “The levers of change are to be found in pulpits and press rooms as much as they are in health centers.  We need doctors and nurses to provide treatments, but when it comes to HIV prevention, more lives will be saved by journalists, clergy, teachers and politicians.”
 
The fight against HIV/AIDS is a global priority for the United States – including in Nepal.  In the last 12 years the American people have contributed more than $45 million to HIV/AIDS prevention and care programs in this country alone -- working with His Majesty’s Government and international and Nepali NGOs.  The United States also contributes to The Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, which gives money for Nepali government activities, including the procurement of anti-retroviral drugs.  An added benefit of the Global Fund’s presence in Nepal is that it brings together many donors, UN agencies, and the government.  For example, the British government’s Department For International Development has also channeled assistance through the Global Fund to support grassroots organizations’ efforts to combat HIV/AIDS. 
 
USAID [“U.S.-aid”] has been a key partner in Nepal’s National HIV/AIDS Program since the beginning.  USAID has led in the areas of prevention, behavior change, increasing the availability of condoms, and in policy formation, research and surveillance.  Recent studies have shown that the epidemic has stabilized and may actually be declining among injecting drug users -- a vulnerable group with the highest rate of HIV in Nepal. 
Despite these optimistic signs, there is also evidence that migrant workers and their families may have high rates of HIV/AIDS.  USAID and The Global Fund plan to conduct surveys of these people over the coming year to gain a better understanding of the situation so that prevention, treatment, care, and support efforts are targeted to them as well.
 
The Nepal Media Leaders HIV/AIDS initiative is very timely.  Media owners, decision makers, key editors, members of professional media associations, and journalists have a critical role to play in the prevention of HIV/AIDS because of your access to so many readers, listeners, and viewers.  The media can raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, give accurate information on the disease, and set a positive standard with respect to tolerance and acceptance on the part of the community toward members of vulnerable groups and persons living with HIV/AIDS.  Media also are an important means to share correct information about Nepal’s National HIV/AIDS Program and available services, including voluntary counselling and testing, treatment, care, and support.  You have the power to inform people where particular services are located and that the services are free of cost.  You have the power to save lives.
 
In addition to reporting accurately about HIV/AIDS in Nepal, a major concern for journalists is your ethical responsibility to protect the rights and privacy of HIV-positive people and their families.  These people are not public figures unless they choose to be.  Even though we work to stop the stigmatization of people living with HIV/AIDS, journalists should still understand that some people will not want details of their private lives made public.
 
An example of how the media can make positive contributions to individuals and communities regarding HIV/AIDS can be heard through the words of a young person from Ramechhap District in the following letter.  The letter was sent to Equal Access, which produces the weekly radio program, “Chatting with My Best Friend.”  This program, developed by UNICEF and partially funded by USAID, is broadcast through Nepal Radio and FM stations and provides life skill education to Nepali youth, including preventing HIV.  These are her words, translated into English:
 
“Dear Friends, I am a regular listener of your program.  Even when I am busy I carry a radio with me to listen to your program.  The program has developed many positive beliefs in the youth who listen.  The society used to discard people who were infected by HIV/AIDS. 
But now we educate the innocent ones about the disease, which has brought good changes in people’s attitudes.  As you broadcast the plays that relate to many villages, it has been able to bring about positive changes in my society too.  Please don’t give up on this program.  We’ve aimed to start up a club with your program.  Thus the program has provided the right direction towards life to all of its listeners.  Please send me the photos of your whole team.  Bye.”
 
No individual or organization can defeat HIV/AIDS on its own.  Only through our collective efforts can we successfully fight stigma and discrimination, which is fundamental to ensuring that the rights of all Nepalis to access HIV/AIDS information and services are preserved. 
 
The Nepal Media Leaders HIV/AIDS initiative will give you the opportunity to share ideas on how the media can and should contribute to slowing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Nepal and to easing its tremendous health and social consequences. An important outcome will be your own concrete plans to take immediate actions toward these purposes in your work. I challenge you to use the upcoming World AIDS Day on December 1^st as a time to launch such actions – and I look forward to reading and listening to stories about the fight against HIV/AIDS in Nepal.
 
I would like to thank His Majesty’s Government of Nepal, USAID, UNAIDS, and Internews for their efforts to organize a summit of this magnitude and importance.  On behalf of the American people, who fund assistance through USAID, I also would like to thank my colleagues at the USAID Mission in Nepal for their excellent 12 years of work on this critical issue and for the opportunity to be here today to put the American people’s money to good use.
 
I look forward to continuing our strong partnership in our joint efforts against HIV/AIDS, to turn the tide of the epidemic, and to ensure access to prevention, treatment, care and support for all who need it.
 
Thank you.