Meeting with UN Under-Secretary-General and UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe

Belarus has made much progress in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. The issue was discussed at the meeting of Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko with Michel Sidibe, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), on 13 April.

The head of state expressed sincere gratitude for the colossal help and support provided to Belarus in healthcare, especially in the fight against such a terrible disease as HIV/AIDS, and for the evaluation of the country’s HIV/AIDS prevention efforts. “Without your support in the fight against this disease we would have never achieved these results,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed.

The President presented the Medal of Francysk Skaryna to Michel Sidibe in recognition of his contribution to the development of healthcare in Belarus.

Michel Sidibe, in turn, remarked that Belarus has made much progress in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS not only with the assistance of UNAIDS but also thanks to the proactive position of Aleksandr Lukashenko. The executive director of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS thanked the head of state for this approach. It is great honor for him to receive the Medal of Francysk Skaryna from the President of Belarus, the leader of the country which was one of the first countries to achieve excellent results in preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV. “Belarus demonstrates that a new generation can be born without HIV/AIDS problems,” Michel Sidibe said.