I would like to thank Presidents Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela for the invitation to take part in this session. I also want to express my appreciation to the organizers of this conference.

Can leadership make a difference in the fight against AIDS? I will refer to my experience with the drug problem to which I devoted a great deal of attention.

I would like to make the following points:

First, there must be a willingness to openly discuss the problem, not ignore it or pretend it does not exist.

Second, we must bring into the discussion people with different perspectives and forms of knowledge about the problem.

Third, we must listen to those with a direct experience of the problem, including those who suffer.

These are essential steps to establish as rigorously as possible the dimension of the problem and its causes.

Then, we must openly discuss alternatives and priorities to address the problem.

This is necessary because strategies must be implemented with the full participation of the communities affected by it.

Once strategies to address the problem are in place, we must evaluate their impact.

Finally, it is vital to keep an open mind and continue to learn about the problem because it keeps changing.

This is what I tried to do about drugs in Portugal. I think it worked at least insofar as promoting a more open discussion, reducing stigma and discrimination attached to drug addicts, and making it politically possible to follow different courses of action.

In this way, we were able to introduce measures to reduce risk, such as needle exchange programs. Laws were also changed, to make drug addiction an illness instead of a crime. We have moved, but we also learned that there is an on going debate.

As we look at this devastating AIDS epidemic, the first and absolute priority is to confront it openly. We have wasted a lot of time in the past. Now we have to make up for it. We must act immediately not only in those countries with overwhelming rates of infection, but also in those, mainly the most vulnerable ones, in which the epidemic is beginning to grow at frightening speed.

Thanks to the UN Special Session we have gained greater awareness of the dimension of the problem and its economic and social consequences. But we are still far from turning the tide.

Our prime responsibility is to make sure AIDS remains high on the political agenda. We must persevere, insist and, with imagination, look for more direct means of reaching people, especially those who are at a greater risk of catching the disease – first and foremost women, but also others such as drug addicts. We must address the issues related to sexuality and endeavor to remove the stigma associated with the disease. We must rally support and resources and act with speed and determination.

We must promote the involvement of all those who can positively influence the conduct of populations. I appeal to more action from the media, public figures, sportsmen to enhance the impact of these initiatives, in addition to the very relevant work already carried out by NGO’s.

I would also like to see a stronger role played by churches and religious confessions, which can add a greater social commitment to this urgent humanitarian situation.

I feel I have to make a particular reference to the countries of the CPLP, the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries, and namely to the African members of this Community. They are being hit hard by this disease, which is worsening their difficult economic and social situation.

I know there is no absolute criterion to classify people’s suffering. But no one will question the fact that AIDS is causing some of the most painful and widespread forms of human suffering today. Let us then use them as an incentive to boldly move forward to set up institutions and solidarity networks with a universal vocation.

The Global Fund should be but the first step. The next step should be based on the recognition that AIDS cannot be successfully tackled in isolation, without addressing as well issues such as poverty and gender inequality.

As globalization gathers speed, there is less and less room for distinctions between other people’s problems and our own. There are only human problems. In order to address them we need ethical firmness and forceful actions. Our own dignity is at stake.