From Ben Ukwuoma and Ozolua Uhakheme,

(Abuja)

IT was an admixture of glamour and gloom yesterday as world leaders converged in Abuja for an African summit on the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other infectious diseases, convened by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).

The glamour: World leaders, both serving and former, added colour to the conference which, according to President Olusegun Obasanjo, is to help contain the scourge. He also advocated the setting up of a global trust fund for Africa in the fight.

Former United States President Bill Clinton, his Ghanaian counterpart Jerry Rawlings and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, stood to be counted in the battle. So also were OAU chairman Gnassingbe Eyadema, and leaders such as John Kuffour (Ghana), Matthew Kerekou (Benin), Moammar Ghadafi (Libya), Sam Nujoma (Namibia), Daniel Arap Moi (Kenya) and Soso Mussongo (Congo).

OAU secretary general Salim Ahmed Salim and Lonsana Konyata of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), were also in attendance. There were, also former United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Walter Carrington and his wife Arese, turning the Federal Capital Territory into a carnival town of sort.

But the grim nature of the gathering coursed through the event, as every activity brought the scourge into sharper focus.

A comic relief at the occasion however, accompanied the arrival of dignitaries into the large hall of the International Conference Centre.

It was a prolonged silence before and after the arrival of President Obasanjo and other heads of states, with Ghaddafi at the venue, while everybody remained standing.

But at the appearance of Clinton, spontaneous applause and thunderous cheers rent the air with people present singing: "For he's a jolly good fellow".

Apparently overwhelmed by the show of love, Clinton shook hands with everybody occupying the front seats. This lasted for over two minutes while all activities stood still.

And, speaking on reasons for the summit, Obasanjo in the opening speech, noted "a few gory details" on the rampaging disease as it affects Africa. These, according to him include:

In less than 20 years, a staggering 11.6 million Africans have died from HIV/ADS, almost three million of whom were children;

an estimated 34 million sub-Saharan Africans are currently infected with the HIV virus;

every five minutes, some youngsters between the ages of 15 and 24 are being infected with HIV in Africa; and

in some other African countries, a quarter of pregnant women are infected each year, and this statistic is expected to increase.
Obasanjo urged his colleagues to put all hands on the deck to save the continent from going under as the disease continue its rampaging strides.

"Your excellencies, what we have is a pandemic out of control, which is gravely threatening our nations, our children, and our future. We are an endangered continent", he said.

Urging them to concentrate on stemming the tide, rather than engage in the political war of where the disease emanated from, Obasanjo said: "Whereas it is the case that the politics is relatively unimportant as this stage, in the face of the developing devastation of HIV/ADS, the pandemic has finally caught the imagination of the health authorities globally as it should. After a long period of neglect, the scale of attention, materially, scientifically and even morally, that is being given to HIV/AIDS is starting to rise to near the level it requires".

He called for the setting up of a Global Trust Fund to fight the disease, which "would receive grants from all governments; particularly from rich governments, multilateral agencies, philanthropists and private businesses".