ADDIS ABABA, Sept. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- The UN Commission on HIV/AIDSand Governance in Africa (CHGA) was officially launched here Wednesday with the presence of first president of Zambia Kenneth Kaunda.

　　CHGA, which is chaired by K.Y. Amoako, the executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, is an initiative announced in February by Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan.

　　CHGA's mandate is to study the impacts of HIV/AIDS on state structures and Africa's economic development.

　　Speaking at the launching ceremony, Amoako said, "at this stagein the history of HIV/AIDS, many may find it difficult to think ofthe devastation being brought by the disease on our families as a critical challenge to the future governance of our communities."

　　The implication of this human tragedy reaches deep into the structure of economies, the capacity of institutions, the integrity of communities and the viability of families, according to Amoako.

　　He believed the commission will act as a source of advice and analysis for African policymakers in their engagement with the next generation intervention strategies.

　　CHGA's work will culminate in a final report in June 2005, which will analyze the governance and development threats posed bythe pandemic and contain policy options for mounting an effective response.

　　CHGA will address the implications of scaling up anti-retroviral therapies for health systems capacity and structures inAfrica and advise African policy makers on how to address the profound structural impacts that HIV/AIDS is having on their abilities to tackle Africa's development challenges.

　　It will focus on a range of issues, including the requirements for resource mobilization, economic policy choices and capacity building.

　　Also at the ceremony, Kaunda called upon the African countries to "rededicate ourselves to do everything possible to roll back HIV/AIDS in Africa."

　　In the year of 2002, some 2.3 million Africans reportedly died from AIDS and another 3.4 million contracted with HIV.

　　And some 30 million people in Africa are now estimated to be living with HIV. Enditem