On behalf of the Government of Ethiopia and the Federal Ministry of Health, my warmest welcome to the launching of the preparation for the 16th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA), which is to be held with a theme “Own, Scale-up, and Sustain” in Addis Ababa in December 2011. It is indeed an honor and a pleasure to be with all of you who truly are the frontlines of this continent’s response to AIDS.

Excellencies, friends,

It is our great pleasure that Ethiopia was selected to host the 16th ICASA, one of the major international AIDS conferences focusing on Africa.

As you may know, the conference expects to welcome more than 10,000 delegates from around the world including scientists, health workers, policy makers, people living with HIV (PLHIV), community leaders and activists working in the fields of HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, Tuberculosis Malaria.

This certainly is the first for Ethiopia to host a conference of this magnitude. With the leadership and commitment from the Government of Ethiopia and development partners, preparations for ICASA 2011 have already begun in earnest.

Indeed, this conference will be an excellent opportunity to take stock of the achievements as well as challenges in the AIDS response and to strengthen partnership 2 among governments, civil societies and development partners, not just within Ethiopiabut also in the Region and across the Globe. Most notably, the year of the conference – 2011 – marks 30 years after AIDS was first discovered as a new disease, 10 years after the UNGASS Political Declaration on AIDS, and 5 years after the Global Declaration towards Universal Access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.

With this in mind, we have to consider ICASA 2011 to be a unique opportunity and moment – for all of us to look at and take stock of the achievements and challenges towards universal access and the Millennium Development Goals, what has worked well and what did not work, the way forward to consolidate on the achievements and address the challenges in the fight against HIV/AIDS, TB & Malaria and to ultimately
meet the millennium Goal 6. As ICASA 2011 theme rightfully declares it, this is our collective opportunity to find sustainable means to OWN, SCALE-UP & SUSTAIN the fight against diseases of poverty.

This gathering to launch ICASA 2011 is just the beginning. We have a lot of work to do and a long way to go between now and December 2011. Please note that one year to organize and host a conference of this magnitude is considered a very short time. Therefore, I call upon all stakeholders to be in the mode of shared sense of urgency.

With strong collaboration and commitment from the Government of Ethiopia and ardent support from all of you – and if we join hands and foster our alliances and draw on our existing social network – I have no doubt that Ethiopia will give the Region and the world an exceptional ICASA where the spirit of global partnership will be reinvigorated by living up to ICASA’s theme to OWN, SCALE-UP and SUSTAIN the fight against AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria.

Thank you