!In a speech held during a high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an end to the discrimination against HIV-infected people.

The UN chief called that kind f discrimination "an affront to our common humanity" and added that it is shocking that, six decades after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the discrimination against those at high risk is still pretty much at the same level.

Ban said that the discrimination causes the deadly virus to go underground and “spread in the dark” and also is an affront to “our common humanity." He described his meeting with the staff of UN Plus, a group of HIV-positive UN staff, as "one of my most moving experiences as secretary-general."

The Secretary-General described the members of UN Plus as “wonderfully courageous and motivated people”. Ban said he is determined to make the United Nations a model of embracing HIV-positive people at the workplace.

Ban also urged the international community to change the legislation that upholds stigma and discrimination. He said laws such as restrictions on travel for HIV-positive people should be abrogated.

The high-level meeting organized by the UN on Tuesday in New York included numerous world leaders, who gathered at the two-day event to review the worldwide progress made in implementing the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the 2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS.

The delegates will also discuss methods to attain universal access to HIV prevention, care and support services by 2010, Kyodo News reports.