Rt. Hon Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam
Chairman World Youth Foundation

Distinguished Guest, Speakers and Participants

I am delighted to be given this opportunity to address you at this critical moment. I hope that you have had a pleasant stay here in Melaka. I have been told that you have been working tirelessly towards achieving a common goal - how to involve young people in an effective respond towards HIV/AIDS particularly on issues pertaining to stigma and discrimination. Efforts to involve young people so far have no been very successful and new initiatives should be brought about to meet the required results.Despite your heavy schedules, I am happy to learn that it has not been all work and not play. Some of you managed to find time to experience historic Melaka. I am sure that Jonker Walk and its surrounding was fun and interesting.I congratulate your notable effort in working towards a common goal for this workshop, Addressing Stigma and Discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS.The enthusiasm shown by the young of ASEAN and those from non-ASEAN countries, have been overwhelming. I was told that there was even a very emotional and heart-warming session when a youth who is HIV positive took center stage and related his personal account of how he was stigmatized and discriminated when he told his friends that he was suffering from HIV/AIDS.Your gathering in historic Melaka is therefore significant and historic. It is the beginning of a small step and I am confident our young will achieve the goal of this workshop by working together.This meeting has provided a platform of information sharing on how to overcome stigma and discrimination and ideas must be translated into concrete action. It will be of no use if we merely talk without any follow-up action.You, the young who represent our future, must push for change. There needs to be a shift in priorities, in particular funding with regard to the fight against HIV/AIDS.Sadly, the recent US led unilateral war on Iraq is a good example where billions were spent on destruction and killing. If only a small percentage of the billions spent on the global war-machine is channeled for constructive use, I am sure then that our fight against the global threat of HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases would see more achievable results.Ladies and GentlemanThe problem of HIV/AIDS is a very real one that must be addressed. The young are our future and if we allow HIV/AIDS to destroy them, there will then come a time where our future generation will be wiped out from this planet.

HIV/AIDS is a twenty years old pandemic that has already taken the lives of 22 million people. Globally there are approximately 42 million people who have died of HIV/AIDS and 800000 children have been infected with the virus out of 5 million new cases reported. Every day 500,000 young people are infected with an STD - most of them in the 20 - 24 age group. It is dreadful and a gargantuan challenge of this millenium. Around 95% percent of these people are living in the developing world. On the local front, there are some 51,256 HIV/AIDS reported cases in Malaysia. The numbers are a conservative estimate as many HIV/AIDS cases go unreported. There are those who say that the present estimates are tripled that of the 51,256. This is very alarming.

Currently 46,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS while 5,424 have since what is alarming is that men, between 13 to 39 years old, represent the majority of HIV/AIDS cases. This figure represents
94% of the reported HIV/AIDS cases in Malaysia.

Ladies and Gentlemen

I welcome the recent move by the Malaysian government, in particular the Ministry of Health, who has allocated RM4 million annually to the Malaysian AIDS Council, a leading NGO in Malaysia to enable them to expand their services to marginalized groups in our fight against HIV/AIDS. Also notable was the Health Ministry's allocation of RM3.6 million to Melaka last year to carry out counseling, screening and treatment programs pertaining to HIV/AIDS.

The effort excludes the Health Ministry's PROSTAR program that carries the motto of "By Youth, Through Youth, From Youth". This program is aimed at getting Malaysian Youth, age 13 to 25, to directly involved in HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns, fund raising and leadership building courses. More than 40,000 young people have so far been trained as facilitators under the PROSTAR program to help those living with HIV/AIDS.

Although aimed at tackling HIV/AIDS issues among young people, PROSTAR also advocates healthy living lifestyle. This is important as PROSTAR will help educate our young, to avoid activities at risk that could lead to HIV/AIDS infection.

Ladies and Gentlemen

Even as we fight the HIV/AIDS war, we are faced with another deadly virus in the form of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The world is now gripped in fear of SARS and many countries have not been sparred from the threat of SARS.

As with those living with HIV/AIDS, SARS has brought to the forefront several issues as mandatory health declaration, screening, quarantine and discrimination. Sadly, those who have been living with HIV/AIDS have suffered stigma and discrimination in silence far too long. I hope this workshop will help us realize that we should not stigmatize and discriminate those suffering from HIV/AIDS, SARS or any other disease. Instead we should focus more on prevention and cure and also put into place support services to help those who are affected and infected by HIV/AIDS or any other disease.

What is needed is care, support and pro-active action by all. Let us conclude this workshop with a great sense of commitment towards our fight against HIV/AIDS.

Ladies and Gentlemen

To this end, I complement the effort of the World Youth Foundation in bringing together young people both from ASEAN and non-ASEAN region to discuss issues that concern them.

You, have had the chance of addressing common issues while collectively finding practical solutions to overcome them.

Of greater significance at this gathering is the creation of the ASEAN Regional Youth E-Network. This Network will represent the way forward aimed for information sharing, effective co-operation
and collaboration.

From this, progress will be made through follow-up meetings and formation of a senior steering committee comprising of UN, governments, international bodies, national and international NGO's. The ultimate goal will be the creation of a sustainable ASEAN Regional Youth Portal. This portal will be a database of youth organizations and groups working with issues related to HIV/AIDS and will be accessible to everyone

Melaka could be the right choice for the setting up the ASEAN Regional Youth E-Network secretariat to administered the management of such a portal while implementing related programs. This is because Melaka has been endowed with excellent infrastructure, and in-line with the state government's vision to make Melaka an IT hub, the state has build an incubator center at Ayer Keroh, Melaka.. Te Center among other's will promote K-Economy, E-Commerce, E-Learning, E-Banking etc.

Efforts are also being made to promote Melaka as a youth state . The construction of World Youth Foundation secretariat in Ayer Keroh is one such example . With such facilities and complementing policies, I am confident that your vision here today will become a reality in historic Melaka in the future.

To this end, I urge UNAIDS, the ASEAN Secretariat and related organizations to play a leading role in making the E-Network a reality. There must be proper funding to help the development of the ASEAN Regional Youth E-Network.

Ladies and Gentlemen

Before I conclude and officially declare the workshop closed, I would like to thank once again all speakers and participants for their time and inputs.

My sincere thanks also goes to the Ministry of the Health, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Economic Planning Unit in the Prime Minister's Department and the ASEAN Secretariat for their sponsorship.

My appreciation to the Malaysian AIDS Council, UNAIDS Malaysia, Panos Institute and the Foundation's Secretariat for their technical assistance and advice.

I welcome you to enjoy the dinner and the special performance by our cultural troupe. I hope that you had a wonderful experience while you were in Historical Melaka. Please do come back and I hope you will put Melaka on your visit list on your next overseas trip.

Thank You.

Rt Hon Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam
Chief Minister of Melaka