As the United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS concluded on Friday, world leaders issued a political declaration outlining bold targets for reducing sexual transmission of HIV and halving HIV infection in injecting drug users by 2015.
Leaders have also made a commitment to increasing the number of people on antiretroviral treatment. Their goal is to see 15 million people ( up from the current 6.6 million currently on treatment in low- and middle-income countries) on the life saving drugs by 2015.
These statements came on top of the release of a report earlier in the 3 day summit which outlined the steps towards achieving the elimination of new infections in children in the next five years.
There are an estimated 7000 new HIV infections per day and the declaration makes clear that prevention is the cornerstone of all responses to the epidemic. It also notes that, as well as a need to address the the epidemic by eliminating gender inequality, there is an inadequate focus on prevention aimed at those populations most at risk- men who have sex with men, sex workers and drug users.
It is estimated that an additional 2.5 billion USD per year will be needed on top of current global funding pledges to reach the ambitious goals set. Learn more about how the response to the HIV and AIDS epidemic is funded.
No comments:
Post a Comment