We are again celebrating WORLD AIDS DAY, and this year, under the theme: Live and let live.

Today we are here to open a center for people living with HIV/AIDS. Globally, there are more than 40 million people living with HIV. Here in The Gambia, our prevalence is at 1.2 percent for HIV 1 and 0.9 % for HIV 2. These figures, one may think, are relatively low but I must say, are increasing and will keep doing so if we as individuals, communities, and leaders fail to respond to our moral duty to take up the challenge and stem the spread of this vicious enemy. I am heartened by the national response and interventions to fight HIV/AIDS. The magnificent turn out yesterday and involvement of all sectors in the activities marking world Aids Day is a clear manifestation of true and active partnership in The Gambia to curb the pandemic. We must resolve to keep up this spirit and ensure that we uphold the momentum.

HIV/AIDS is a pandemic that is threatening the future of communities, of societies, of nations and the world at large. What does it mean then to live with HIV? For many years one can live with the virus and not even know about it. In fact the majority of people living with the virus do not know that they are infected until such a time that they go for testing and find out about their status. In the past, we have seen that people living with the virus face difficult situations as they have been known to loose loved ones through stigma and discrimination within their homes, their work places and communities. Government's stance in this direction is firm and resolute and deserves commendation. The government of The Gambia does not entertain or encourage stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS. His Excellency President Gamma made this statement on 1st November 2002 when he stated that no civil servant would be removed from office because of HIV positive zero status. Again, yesterday, in his World Aids Day address to the nation, he reiterated the same stance and implored all employers to adapt the same approach in their places of work.

Today, we are here to make a difference. We are here to demonstrate to all and sundry that people living with HIV/AIDS are our brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, uncles and aunts, mothers and fathers and dear friends indeed. They play important roles in our lives and we want to share with them their joys and difficulties. We want to treat them as ordinary people and loved ones and of course great assets to society. We want to show them that they can live in peace and contribute their quota to national development. In fact, people living with HIV/AIDS are represented at the National Aids Council and are fully participating in all interventions to curb the epidemic.

We welcome the 'Nganiya Kiling' Society and its sister society the 'Santa Yalla' society as important parts of our social network. We would like to assure members of these societies that we will work together to fight HIV/AIDS and support people and families affected or infected by the virus.

The government of The Gambia, in collaboration with the World Bank and other partners, has provided additional resources to scale-up our national response. Thus we are now in a stronger financial position to fight HIV/AIDS in The Gambia.

Being HIV positive does not mean the end of the world. There is hope - hope for those who are affected as we are expecting effective treatment in this country very soon; hope for pregnant mothers and their partners living with the virus as we will soon offer them a package of treatment that will protect their children from infection; hope for all of us as there are effective ways of prevention through abstinence, faithfulness and use of condoms.

The Centre that we are about to inaugurate today is thus a great source of HOPE and a symbol in the fight against stigma and discrimination. It will help demystify HIV/AIDS and give it a human face.

With the opening of this Centre, people living with the Virus in The Gambia can now be free of fear and discrimination as they will be able to receive adequate care and support as well as embark on income generating activities that will support them and their families.

Secondly and most importantly, this centre calls all of us into action - action to accept people living with the virus and to find out whether we ourselves do or do not live with the virus. Free and confidential testing facilities are widely available right here in Brikama at the Reproductive Health clinic and elsewhere in the country. I urge each and every one of you to make good use of these facilities at our disposal for that is a first step in the right direction. I also call upon the community leadership to support the 'Nganiya Kiling' Society Centre and advocate for tolerance, compassion and understanding. I shall very soon be launching The Gambia Chapter of the Organization of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLAA) and through this initiative I shall give you all even greater support and encouragement.

At this juncture, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to seize this opportunity to extend sincere gratitude and appreciation to all partners, national and international who have been steadfast in the fight against HIV/AIDS in The Gambia and the world at large. More especially, I wish to commend the W.E.C. Mission, particularly Dr. Gisela Schneider, Project Coordinator, the C.R.S. Mission in The Gambia, His Excellency the President and National Aids Council, the National Aids Secretariat through the HIV/AIDS Rapid Response Project for providing the resources needed to operate this centre.

Finally, the word 'Nganiya Kiling' in Mandinka means - same mind and purpose - let us stand together with one mind and purpose and strive to conquer the enemy; - Together as partners, we shall surely win the fight against HIV/AIDS.

On this note Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I now have the singular honour to declare the 'Nganiya Kiling' Society Centre open.

I thank you all for your kind attention.