Halting HIV/AIDS Needs Bold Responses

Halting HIV/AIDS Needs Bold Responses - World AIDS Day, 1 December

MANILA, Philippines, Nov. 29 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Calling for genuine
commitment and stronger political will, Dr Shigeru Omi, WHO Regional
Director for the Western Pacific, today urged Member States "to act
boldly and urgently" to change the course of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040610/CNTH001LOGO )

Despite measures designed to prevent the virus from spreading, 3
million people worldwide were needlessly infected last year, adding to
the 40 million already living with the virus.

"We know what works and what doesn't. So why has the necessary action
to prevent the virus from spreading not been taken?" Dr Omi asked. "Why
is the epidemic still growing and not reversing?"


In the last few years, a number of goals were set in response to
HIV/AIDS:
-- 2000 -- Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): To reverse the
HIV/AIDS
epidemic by 2015.
-- 2001 -- The United Nations General Assembly (UNGASS) Declaration
of
Commitment: To reduce HIV prevalence by 25% among people in the
15- to
24-year-old age bracket in the most affected countries; to
reduce by
20% the number of babies infected through mother-to-child
transmission;
and to ensure that at least 90% of young people (aged 15-24
years) have
the information, education, service and life skills that will
enable
them to reduce their vulnerability to HIV infection.
-- 2003 -- The 3 by 5 Initiative: To provide access to
antiretroviral
treatment to 3 million people living with HIV in developing
countries
by the end of 2005.
In response and in line with the commitments made, World AIDS Day's
theme this year, Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise, calls on Member States to
review progress on the targets and to speed up action to stop HIV from
spreading further. World AIDS Day is 1 December.

The theme is a call for accountability. "What was done or not done. The
failure to respond can also provide lessons," Dr Omi said. "It is
becoming increasingly clear that with sufficient will and resources, we
can turn this epidemic around."

Although there have been dramatic developments in political commitment,
the provision and treatment, and funding, fewer than one in five
infected people has access to basic HIV prevention programmes
worldwide.

For example, only a few governments in the Western Pacific have
effective interventions to prevent the spread of HIV through injecting
drug use, despite it being a major route of HIV transmission in the
Region.

Despite the MDG target of stopping the spread of AIDS by 2015, the
epidemic continues to grow, not reverse, in many countries, with
further expansion likely. "With 10 more years to go, the target can be
met, but only if bold responses focused on vulnerable groups are
taken," Dr Omi stressed.

Many UNGASS strategies have a 2005 target for implementation, making it
necessary to review progress and see if promises have been kept. While
not legally binding, UNGASS set a clear framework for action that
leaders had agreed to uphold.

Progress has been made with access to antiretroviral therapy (ART). By
June 2005, almost 1 million people globally were receiving ART in
developing countries. In Asia, the number of people receiving treatment
increased by 50% in the first half of 2005 to 150 000, covering roughly
one in seven of those who need it. Despite the progress, the 3 by 5
Initiative is still short of its targets.

All member countries of the United Nations have agreed to meet the
UNGASS and MDG targets. Said Dr Omi: "These promises need to be
translated into effective action. Political momentum has to be scaled
up to meet national targets."


For more information, please contact:
Dr Bernard Fabre-Teste,
Regional Adviser in Sexually Transmitted Infections including
HIV/AIDS
Tel: +63-2-528-9714
Email: fabretesteb@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Facts and Figures
General situation
-- About 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS globally.
-- More than 20 million people have died of AIDS.
-- Women account for nearly half of all people living with the
virus
worldwide and nearly 30% of all infected people in Asia.
-- More than 6000 people contract the virus every day.
-- Donor funding for HIV/AIDS has increased 20-fold since 1996 to
US$ 6
billion in 2004.
-- AIDS is the leading cause of death of people aged 15 to 49
years
worldwide.
-- In some countries, average life expectancy has fallen by a
decade
because of HIV/AIDS.
Regional situation
-- About 1.5 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in the
Western
Pacific Region.
-- Drug use and sex work are the driving the epidemic across the
Western
Pacific Region, yet there are few interventions to address
these
problems.
-- Nearly all countries in the Region have concentrated epidemics
among
people practising high-risk behaviour. Cambodia and Papua New
Guinea
are the only two countries with a generalized epidemic (defined
as
more than 1% prevalence among the adult population.)
-- The virus has spread to all 31 provinces and autonomous regions
in
China.
-- Cambodia has the highest national HIV prevalence rate in Asia,
at 2.6%
of the general population.
-- In 2003 in Cambodia, an estimated 3% of men and 2% of women
were
living with HIV.
-- Estimates indicate that nearly 30% of sex workers in Cambodia
were
HIV-positive.
-- If nothing is done to promote HIV prevention, some 10 million
Chinese
may be infected by 2010.
-- Injecting drug use is the main route of HIV transmission in
China,
Malaysia and Viet Nam.
-- In Malaysia, three quarters of all reported HIV infections were
contracted via injecting drug use.
SOURCE World Health Organization


11/29/2005 07:20 ET

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