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The General Assembly has adopted a strongly worded declaration aimed at pressing the countries of the world to strengthen their battle against AIDS, a global pandemic that Secretary General Kofi Annan called 'the greatest challenge of our generation.' The new document is a political blueprint, not a plan of action. It calls for strong commitments to bolster the rights of women and girls so they can protect themselves from infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The document also acknowledges the role of men in spreading the disease and their responsibility to respect women. The Center for Health and Gender Equity, which says it represents nearly 70 international advocacy groups, denounced the document for failing to show greater political leadership; refusing to commit to more definitive targets on financing, prevention, care and treatment; and evading frank acknowledgment that some of today's fastest-growing epidemics are occurring among intravenous drug users, prostitutes and gay men

The language of the document surprised even anti-AIDS groups, which said that while it did not satisfy all their objectives, they had feared it would be watered down. In turn, United Nations officials credited the advocacy groups for strengthening the draft in behind-the-scenes struggles during an extraordinary three-day plenary session. The new document is a political blueprint, not a plan of action. It calls for a strong commitments to bolster the rights of women and girls so they can protect themselves from infection with H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. The document also acknowledges the role of men in spreading the disease and their responsibility to respect women. [Laura Bush], center, with her daughter Barbara, right, and the American envoy, John R. Bolton, left, at yesterday's General Assembly session. Mrs. Bush gave a generally positive assessment of the AIDS campaign. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

[Kofi Annan] and Dr. Peter Piot, executive director of the AIDS program, spoke as the General Assembly began a three-day meeting aimed at renewing the political commitment urged in 2001 and setting new goals for expenditures and for measuring progress in the battle against AIDS. The General Assembly also heard from Khensani Mavasa of South Africa, who became the first person known to be infected with HIV to address a plenary session about AIDS. Mavasa urged that the new declaration not be 'a document of empty promises,' but 'a platform for targets based on action.' Mavasa said that she had been raped and abused, and recommended setting a goal of ending violence against women. Describing her life as one 'under the power of men and the institutions they run,' she called for making condoms available to everyone and creating a culture that encourages their regular use

Outside of those countries which include Haiti, Cambodia, Kenya and Zimbabwe the number of new AIDS infections continues to rise or hover at its current pace. Meanwhile, public health efforts are reaching only a small proportion of people at risk, Dr. Peter Piot, the executive director of Unaids, said Tuesday. 'It's a very complex epidemic,' he said. 'We can no longer talk about AIDS' as a single epidemic but as many diverse ones. The progress against AIDS in some regions represents dividends from a surge in financing since 2001, when the United Nations pledged its commitment to stem the epidemic by 2010. That declaration called for countries to report regularly on their responses to AIDS. The report, the most comprehensive survey ever compiled from country data, pointed to the 2001 UN meeting as a turning point for AIDS financing. In 2005, the United States and the rest of the world spent $8.3 billion on AIDS, compared with $1.6 billion in 2001

Mr. [Kofi Annan] and Dr. Peter Piot, executive director of the AIDS program, spoke as the General Assembly began a three-day meeting aimed at renewing the political commitment urged in 2001 and setting new goals for expenditures and for measuring progress in the battle against AIDS. The General Assembly also heard from Khensani Mavasa of South Africa, who became the first person known to be infected with H.I.V. to address a plenary session about AIDS. Such sessions are normally reserved for United Nations officials and delegates from member countries. Khensani Mavasa of South Africa, addressing the United Nations yesterday, called for making condoms available to all to fight AIDS. (Photo by Stuart Ramson/Associated Press)

New surveys suggest that the global AIDS epidemic has begun to slow, with a decline in new HIV infections in about 10 countries, the head of the U.N. AIDS program said here Tuesday in the most comprehensive international report ever issued on the disease. Elsewhere, the number of new AIDS infections continues to rise or continues at its current pace. Meanwhile, public health efforts are reaching only a small proportion of people at risk, said Dr. Peter Piot, the U.N. AIDS executive director. In Haiti, the percentage of pregnant women infected with HIV has declined to 3.7 percent in 2003-04 from 9.4 percent in 1993, Piot said in releasing the agency's report at a news conference. The report, issued every other year, comes on the eve of a U.N. General Assembly session. Despite the positive trends, Piot reported grim findings from China, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Russia and Vietnam, with signs of outbreaks in Bangladesh and Pakistan, Piot said

New surveys suggest that the global AIDS epidemic has begun to slow, with a decline in new H.I.V. infections in about 10 countries, the leader of the United Nations AIDS program said Tuesday. The report shows that the epicenter of the epidemic remains in sub-Saharan Africa. There the epidemic has reached a peak, but incidence remains unacceptably high, Dr. [Peter Piot] said. Across most of Africa, H.I.V. prevalence among pregnant women attending clinics has remained roughly level for several years. An estimated 38.6 million people worldwide are living with H.I.V., up from 37.3 million in 2005, according to a United Nations report released yesterday. Experts cite drops in H.I.V. prevalence in some of the hardest-hit African nations as evidence that the disease's spread is slowing

In Haiti, the percentage of pregnant women infected with HIV has declined to 3.7 percent in 2003-04 from 9.4 percent in 1993, [Peter Piot] said in releasing the agency's report at a news conference. The report, issued every other year, comes on the eve of a U.N. General Assembly session. Despite the positive trends, Piot reported grim findings from China, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Russia and Vietnam, with signs of outbreaks in Bangladesh and Pakistan, Piot said

Elsewhere, the number of new AIDS infections continues to rise or continues at its current pace. And public health efforts are reaching only a small proportion of people at risk, said Dr. Peter Piot, the U.N. AIDS executive director. 'It's a very complex epidemic,' said Piot, adding AIDS should no longer be considered as a single epidemic but as many diverse ones. India, for example, appears to have surpassed South Africa as the country with the largest number of HIV infections. India has 5.7 million infected people, and South Africa has 5.5 million, but the difference may not be statistically meaningful. Showing no sign of decline, South Africa has a prevalence rate of about 19 percent of 47 million people. In India, the rate is less than 1 percent of its population of 1.1 billion. In Haiti, the percentage of pregnant women infected with HIV has declined to 3.7 percent in 2003-04 from 9.4 percent in 1993, Piot said. The report, issued every other year, comes on the eve of a U.N. General Assembly session. Despite the positive trends, Piot reported grim findings from China, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Russia and Vietnam, with signs of outbreaks in Bangladesh and Pakistan, Piot said