ID :
9743
Tue, 06/10/2008 - 23:16
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/9743
The shortlink copeid
'Fight against HIV/AIDS is facing shortage of fund'
Dharam Shourie
United Nations, Jun 10 (PTI) The global fight against
HIV/AIDS is facing funding shortage and sustained effort is
needed to raise money to enable the goals set by world leaders
are met, a body dealing with the crisis has said.
The 'Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria' required another USD 7 to 8 billion to reach the
funding goals for the current year, its executive director
Michel Kazatchkine told reporters Monday ahead of the high
level meeting of the UN General Assembly to review the
progress made so far.
The gap, he expects would increase to USD 10 to 12
billion in next three years. Besides, he said, there is need
for long-term and predictable commitments.
Experts note that extensive treatment is needed for
the AIDS victims who get infected with tuberculosis.
A new report by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says
that the global fight against HIV/AIDS is yielding
"significant and positive results," but leading actors in that
fight warned that time has not yet come for celebrations.
The report also notes that the rate of progress in
expanding access to essential services is failing to keep pace
with the expansion of the epidemic. For example, while an
additional one million people had started antiretroviral
therapy in 2007, 2.5 million people had been newly infected
during that same period.
An estimated 33.2 million people worldwide were living
with HIV as of December 2007 and, although the rate of new
infections had fallen globally, the number of people newly
infected had increased in a number of countries, including
China, Indonesia, Russia and Ukraine, in European Union
countries and in North America, the report found.
AIDS was still the leading cause of death in Africa and,
overall, there was a growing "feminisation" of the epidemic
with the rate of infection among women increasing compared to
men.
"The report highlights real results," said Kazatchkine.
Specifically, the report notes that three million people
were receiving antiretroviral treatment at the end of 2007,
including two million people in Africa. That was a 15-fold
increase from 2001, when fewer than 200,000 people received
such therapy. In 2001, more than half of those who received
ARV therapy lived in Brazil, the only developing country that
offered free ARV treatment to its citizens.
The report also notes that, globally, the rate of new
infections had declined and pregnant women living with HIV
were increasingly able to access drug therapy to prevent
mother-to-child transmission, he said.
By the end of 2007, 33 percent of pregnant women living
with HIV in low-and middle-income countries received ARV
drugs. Additionally, 200,000 children living with HIV in the
developing world were receiving treatment, an increase of
80,000 from last year.
Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme
on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Peter Piot said the mobilization of
resources to fight the disease had also improved, going beyond
targets that had been laid out in a declaration adopted by the
General Assembly in 2001. The declaration had set a target of
USD 7 billion by 2005. Last year, global resources mobilized
for HIV/AIDS totalled USD 10 billion.
Despite the advances and increased resource
mobilisation, Piot and Kazatchkine both tempered their
optimism.
"The AIDS epidemic is far from over," said Piot. "There
are 7,000 new infections every single day, 6,000 people dying
every day. That's a crisis by any standard."
"Despite the progress, only 30 percent - or close to
one third - of the people we believe to be in need of
antiretroviral treatment access ARV therapy currently," said
Kazatchkine.
The weak health-care systems, critical shortages in
human resources and a lack of predictable long-term funding
for HIV/AIDS are among the obstacles that prevented the entire
population in need from accessing ARV treatment, he explained.
He said that programmes supported by the Global Fund
provided treatment for more than 50 percent of all people
receiving ARV therapy worldwide. The Fund also provided two
thirds of international financing for efforts to combat
malaria and tuberculosis.
Though some countries, such as Britain, had pledged
money to the Global Fund until the year 2014, such long-term
funding was not the norm.
Kazatchkine said there was a need for more funding
over the long haul, including through official development
assistance (ODA) and new and innovative private and public
funding mechanisms.
Asked how much money would be needed to treat all
persons in need of ARV therapy, Kazatchkine said last year
there had been a funding gap of roughly USD 7 billion. The
need in 2007 had been estimated globally at USD 17 billion,
but only USD 10 billion had been received and spent.
"There will always be a gap," said Kazatchkine, adding
"We need a very sustained effort and we still need increased
resources." PTI DS
WDA
NNNN
United Nations, Jun 10 (PTI) The global fight against
HIV/AIDS is facing funding shortage and sustained effort is
needed to raise money to enable the goals set by world leaders
are met, a body dealing with the crisis has said.
The 'Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria' required another USD 7 to 8 billion to reach the
funding goals for the current year, its executive director
Michel Kazatchkine told reporters Monday ahead of the high
level meeting of the UN General Assembly to review the
progress made so far.
The gap, he expects would increase to USD 10 to 12
billion in next three years. Besides, he said, there is need
for long-term and predictable commitments.
Experts note that extensive treatment is needed for
the AIDS victims who get infected with tuberculosis.
A new report by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says
that the global fight against HIV/AIDS is yielding
"significant and positive results," but leading actors in that
fight warned that time has not yet come for celebrations.
The report also notes that the rate of progress in
expanding access to essential services is failing to keep pace
with the expansion of the epidemic. For example, while an
additional one million people had started antiretroviral
therapy in 2007, 2.5 million people had been newly infected
during that same period.
An estimated 33.2 million people worldwide were living
with HIV as of December 2007 and, although the rate of new
infections had fallen globally, the number of people newly
infected had increased in a number of countries, including
China, Indonesia, Russia and Ukraine, in European Union
countries and in North America, the report found.
AIDS was still the leading cause of death in Africa and,
overall, there was a growing "feminisation" of the epidemic
with the rate of infection among women increasing compared to
men.
"The report highlights real results," said Kazatchkine.
Specifically, the report notes that three million people
were receiving antiretroviral treatment at the end of 2007,
including two million people in Africa. That was a 15-fold
increase from 2001, when fewer than 200,000 people received
such therapy. In 2001, more than half of those who received
ARV therapy lived in Brazil, the only developing country that
offered free ARV treatment to its citizens.
The report also notes that, globally, the rate of new
infections had declined and pregnant women living with HIV
were increasingly able to access drug therapy to prevent
mother-to-child transmission, he said.
By the end of 2007, 33 percent of pregnant women living
with HIV in low-and middle-income countries received ARV
drugs. Additionally, 200,000 children living with HIV in the
developing world were receiving treatment, an increase of
80,000 from last year.
Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme
on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Peter Piot said the mobilization of
resources to fight the disease had also improved, going beyond
targets that had been laid out in a declaration adopted by the
General Assembly in 2001. The declaration had set a target of
USD 7 billion by 2005. Last year, global resources mobilized
for HIV/AIDS totalled USD 10 billion.
Despite the advances and increased resource
mobilisation, Piot and Kazatchkine both tempered their
optimism.
"The AIDS epidemic is far from over," said Piot. "There
are 7,000 new infections every single day, 6,000 people dying
every day. That's a crisis by any standard."
"Despite the progress, only 30 percent - or close to
one third - of the people we believe to be in need of
antiretroviral treatment access ARV therapy currently," said
Kazatchkine.
The weak health-care systems, critical shortages in
human resources and a lack of predictable long-term funding
for HIV/AIDS are among the obstacles that prevented the entire
population in need from accessing ARV treatment, he explained.
He said that programmes supported by the Global Fund
provided treatment for more than 50 percent of all people
receiving ARV therapy worldwide. The Fund also provided two
thirds of international financing for efforts to combat
malaria and tuberculosis.
Though some countries, such as Britain, had pledged
money to the Global Fund until the year 2014, such long-term
funding was not the norm.
Kazatchkine said there was a need for more funding
over the long haul, including through official development
assistance (ODA) and new and innovative private and public
funding mechanisms.
Asked how much money would be needed to treat all
persons in need of ARV therapy, Kazatchkine said last year
there had been a funding gap of roughly USD 7 billion. The
need in 2007 had been estimated globally at USD 17 billion,
but only USD 10 billion had been received and spent.
"There will always be a gap," said Kazatchkine, adding
"We need a very sustained effort and we still need increased
resources." PTI DS
WDA
NNNN
