UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Buoyed by the success of a historic three-day U.N. summit on AIDS, politicians, health experts and activists now face the challenge of putting to action their battle plan to halt the killer disease's relentless march across the globe.

The 189-member General Assembly adopted the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS by consensus Wednesday night at the end of an unprecedented special session - the first ever on a health issue. Delegates applauded as General Assembly President Harri Holkeri of Finland approved the unanimous vote with a bang of his gavel.

Under pressure from Islamic countries, Western nations backed away from naming specific groups vulnerable to the HIV virus and AIDS - referring, for example, to those at risk due to "sexual practice" instead of mentioning "men who have sex with men." But experts said the heart of the document remained: a global agenda aimed at reversing the AIDS pandemic by 2015.

More than 22 million people have died from AIDS and another 36 million are living with the HIV virus that causes the disease. An estimated 75 percent of the infected live in sub-Saharan Africa.

"The survival of my own nation, and of many others facing the same fate, hangs in the balance," said King Mswati III of Swaziland, where a quarter of citizens between the ages of 15 and 49 are infected. The disease has cut life expectancy there by at least 17 years.

"The success of this summit, and the only justification for its substantial expense on us all as members, will be measured in terms of a reversal in the numbers of the dead and the dying. Our people can accept nothing less than that," the king said in an impassioned speech Wednesday.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned that unless every sector of society joins in the fight against the epidemic, "I am afraid that we are going to fail."

"It is a fight we cannot afford to lose," he said. Education is an essential part of the solution, Annan said. Women must be allowed to enjoy their full human rights if the disease is to be stopped, he said.

More than half the new HIV cases in Africa are women, who are often forced to have unprotected sex. In sub-Saharan Africa, teen-age girls are five times more likely to be infected than boys. Girls are often denied schooling, and women may have little access to reproductive health, such as condoms.

For the fight against AIDS to succeed, the human rights of all victims must be respected, "regardless of their religious beliefs, regardless of their orientation" - and discrimination must end, Annan said.

The secretary-general has called for a war chest of $7 billion to $10 billion annually to combat AIDS. A global fund, run as a public-private partnership to channel money to poor AIDS-stricken countries, will be established by the end of the year, he said.

The United States has already pledged $200 million for the fund. On Wednesday, the House International Relations Committee approved more than $1.3 billion for the global campaign against AIDS in 2002, including another $750 million for the fund and other programs. Bipartisan support indicates it will be approved by Congress and signed by President Bush.

Other contributions were announced at the conference this week by both wealthy and impoverished nations, totaling about $700 million.

The final declaration puts forth specific goals and outlines a plan for nations to provide treatment and prevent the spread of the disease.

By 2003, governments should develop national strategies and financing plans to increase the availability of AIDS drugs. By 2005, education programs on AIDS prevention should be available in all countries, the number of HIV-infected infants should be reduced by 20 percent and nations should start putting comprehensive health care programs in place.

The declaration also recognizes the need for greater access to affordable therapies. Drug companies have lowered prices, but even $1 a day can be too high a cost for many patients, Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa said Wednesday.

"With 2 million people who would need the drugs, we would have to spend $200 million per annum, and my ministry's budget is only $100 million, so you can see how very short of our needs it is," he said.

Ambassador Allieu Ibrahim Kanu of Sierra Leone, which has been engulfed in a long civil war, added that "even if the drug cocktails were free and had no side effects, the cost of delivering these drugs and enforcing daily compliance in rural Africa would be overwhelming."

The Vatican, which has observer status at the United Nations, issued a statement objecting to some aspects of the plan and expressing regret over others. The Vatican's stand against condom use as a method to prevent the spread of the disease has drawn much criticism.

The Vatican feels that "irresponsible, unsafe, high risk or risky behavior were not adequately discussed and addressed in the preparation of this declaration."

Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.