UN General Assembly
2005

battle that we must wage at the worldwide, regional and national levels to defeat pandemics of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and polio, which are decimating our populations. As regards HIV/AIDS, the Government of Senegal, which devotes more than one-tenth of its budget to health, will continue through bold actions based on information, education, awareness campaigns, prevention and subsidies to fight pandemics tirelessly. However, the encouraging results achieved by several countries, including Senegal, which has managed to keep the prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS at one of the lowest levels in the continent, cannot be consolidated without substantial and consistent support from international partners. Allow me to remind the General Assembly of the good news announced just a few weeks ago of the prevalence rate in my country falling from 1.7 per cent to 0.7 per cent. I would also like to invite the international community to support Africa in its fight against drepanocytosis — otherwise known as sickle cell anaemia — which has become a public health problem in several countries. This disease, apart from the