Abstract
This is the text of the address delivered by the director general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) at the XIII International AIDS Conference, Durban, in July 2000, which highlights the issues and challenges to global response to HIV/AIDS. The experience of two decades shows that tools are available to prevent HIV and provide care for people living with HIV/AIDS. Now is a historic opportunity, according to the WHO DG, for a wider and more effective response. To achieve this, leadership is required to act early and effectively, have clarity about what is at stake, certainty about what priorities are, have confidence in taking bold decisions and finally have the courage to make a difference. The address brings to the fore WHO perspectives on the issues to be addressed and articulates challenges and opportunities in combating the unprecedented tbreat posed by HIV/AIDS.
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