"We are all collectively responsible for ensuring that we do every thing in our power to stop the scourge of AIDS" the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said today.
Speaking at the launch of World Aids Day today, the Taoiseach announced that a National Awareness Campaign will take place next year to address stigma and discrimination associated with HIV.
The new campaign is a collaborative initiative between the Department of Health and Children, Irish Aid and a forum of civil society organisations working in the area of HIV/AIDS both here and in developing countries.
It aims to promote a greater understanding of HIV in Ireland and to plan responses that meet the needs of people living with the virus.
Mr Ahern said: "This is a day for us to take account of our responsibilities in regard to HIV/AIDS and our duty to increase public awareness of the problem of HIV/AIDS worldwide.
"Stigma and discrimination is a recognised factor in the increasing spread of HIV.
"We must all work together to make our societies more open and caring, more inclusive and less judgmental," he added.
Meanwhile, President Mary McAleese marked World Aids day by unveiling a statue entitled The Rose Bowlat St Stephen's Green in Dublin.
The statue commemorates the life of Rose Atieno a Kenyan woman who died of Aids and was sculpted by Sandra Bell.
Ms Atieno was nursed by an Irish woman Mary Donohoe who later set up the NGO the Rose Project, named after the deceased, which delivers medical care to poor communities in six countries in Africa.
Mrs McAleese said she was proud to unveil the work "which confers meaning, dignity and purpose on a life, and a death, too easily otherwise forgotten among Aids' vast roll-call of victims".