World renowned musician and humanitarian Mstislav
Rostropovich accepts appointment as UNAIDS Special
Representative
Geneva, 28 April 2006
Maestro Mstislav Rostropovich, the outstanding musician, strong defender of human rights and advocate for children’s health, has accepted the appointment as a Special Representative for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). As UNAIDS Special Representative, Maestro Rostropovich will raise awareness and provide high level advocacy on HIV prevention, treatment, care and support among children and youth. Through his outstanding network in politics, humanitarian affairs and culture, Maestro Rostropovich will support the UNAIDS mission in the areas of the reintegration of institutionalized children and youth into society.
“I am proud to appoint Maestro Mstislav Rostropovich as UNAIDS Special Representative,” said Dr Peter Piot, UNAIDS Executive Director. “Through his music, his Foundation and his personal strong commitment to improving the lives of children and youth—I know that he will be a compelling and eloquent advocate in focusing attention on HIV and making a difference in the AIDS response. I am also confident that the prestige, talent and presence that the Maestro will bring to these issues will help the United Nations send a powerful message that will reach the hearts and minds of people throughout the world.”
Maestro Rostropovich and his wife, the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, have since 1991 through their non-profit foundation actively been involved in the improvement of children’s health care in Russia and other Newly Independent States, formerly part of the Soviet Union.
The Foundation also supports the screening of pregnant women for HIV and care for HIV-infected children.
“HIV poses a serious health risk to everyone - particularly to children”, the Maestro said..
“Every day children die, because they do not have access to prevention, treatment, care and support that could have saved their lives - This is not only a health issue, it is an issue of fundamental equity and human rights. In my capacity as a UNAIDS Special Representative, I will help save children’s lives by making the world leaders and international communities commit responsibility to meet the AIDS response”.
According to UNAIDS, the global AIDS epidemic is one of the worst crises affecting the world today. It is likely to have the most severe impact on children and young people.
Globally, around one quarter of the nearly 40 million people living with HIV are under 25 years of age. Young people, between the ages 15 to 24, make up about half of new HIV infections worldwide. Each day there are nearly 1,800 new HIV infections in children under 15, mostly from mother-to-child transmission. Every minute a child dies of an AIDS-related illness and every minute a child becomes infected with HIV.

I am currently in Moskow, actually participating in this extremely important event for the countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia in terms of resolving HIV/AIDS related problems, and you can find below the joint press release of this conference.
Global Fund and UNAIDS Call for Rapid Scaleup of Efforts
to Combat AIDS
Moscow, 15 May 2006
With 270,000 people newly infected with HIV in 2005 alone, the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region faces the world’s most rapidly expanding AIDS epidemic. An estimated 1.6 million people are living with the disease across the
region, and in several countries the epidemic shows signs of crossing from groups most at risk into the general population.
The first regional AIDS conference in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, which opens today in Moscow, underscores the growing momentum to scale up the AIDS response. A significant increase in both financial resources and political commitment over the past two years suggest that the pieces are falling into place for regional and international partners to effectively tackle the epidemic.
National health spending in many countries of the region is beginning to expand. Domestic spending on AIDS in Russia is slated to increase by 20 times in 2006 to over US$100
million. In 2005, Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin established HIV prevention as a national priority.
“AIDS is one of the greatest challenges facing Eastern Europe and Central Asia today,” said Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS, during his keynote address at the Conference.
“Fear and stigma are truly the best friends of HIV. To get ahead of the epidemic, stigma and discrimination must be tackled head-on, and HIV prevention and treatment services must be urgently scaled up.”
As funding for AIDS increases, UNAIDS’ main focus is to make the money work, and assist countries in scaling up HIV prevention, treatment, care and support programmes. An
effective AIDS response must include strong political leadership, partnerships between governments, people living with HIV and civil society, and sustained funding.
“In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, we have the opportunity to stem the growth of AIDS before it becomes a catastrophe,” said Dr. Richard Feachem, Executive Director of the Global Fund at a joint press conference held on the opening day of the EEAC conference.
“The Global Fund is investing heavily to assist the region in facing this challenge, and is fully committed to rapid scale up of programs in the region.”
In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the Global Fund is now the largest external donor for efforts to prevent and treat HIV and tuberculosis, having already committed more than US$
700 million in the region. A significant investment of up to US$ 300 million is being made in Russia, which has increased its domestic spending on HIV in parallel.
While Global Fund-financed programs in Eastern Europe and Central Asia are still young – on average just 19 months since the start of their grants – by the end of 2005, they had reached more than 2.1 million people with AIDS prevention activities and provided HIV testing and counseling for more than 700,000 people – an essential measure for both preventing and treating the disease. In addition, these programs had brought 3,200 people onto antiretroviral treatment regimens and delivered care and support to 17,000 orphans and other vulnerable children. The Global Fund is also investing heavily into TB programs in the region with more than 23,000 people reached to date through Directly Observed Treatment Short course (DOTS) – the international standard for TB control.