Global trends of AIDS
I hope Tony Blair and other world leaders do all in their power to continue with their commitment to helping countries stricken by AIDS. There are fears that they could renege on the G8 countries agreement for treating AIDS made two years ago..
The alarm has been raised by the UN Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa, Elizabeth Mataka, who said that negotiations which took place prior to the latest G8 Summit in Germany suggested that some G8 countries favoured a dramatic scaling back of its commitment to universal access to treatment.
Between 10 and 12 million will need treatment by 2010, yet it has been suggested that it should be halved to a target of only “5 million in the next few years”
Perhaps G8 should be informed how AIDS is now posing a serious threat to African democracies. Reuters has reported how AIDS may be killing elected officials in some Southern African countries faster than they can be replaced.
AIDS figures continues to soar globally, as the chart shows. More than 25 million people have died of AIDS since 1981. Africa has 12 million AIDS orphans.
At the end of 2006, women accounted for 48% of all adults living with HIV worldwide, and for 59% in sub-Saharan Africa. Young people (under 25 years old) account for half of all new HIV infections worldwide – around 6,000 become infected with HIV every day.
In developing and transitional countries, 7.1 million people are in immediate need of life-saving AIDS drugs; of these, only 2.015 million (28%) are receiving the drugs.
The number of people living with HIV has risen from around 8 million in 1990 to nearly 40 million today, and is still growing. Around 63% of people living with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa.
It is vital that these wealthy G8 countries demonstrates its continuing commitment to tackling AIDS, providing the essential drugs, research and education so badly needed. I hope Tony Blair remembers what he said on this two years ago when he called it “a beginning not an end”.
damn it ellee I had a good comment to leave, but I just got a call…
I’ll come back later 🙂
That’s a sobering trend.
Ellee:
Governments are cutting back on help for AIDs because they want to stop new cases and write off the old ones. Humanely this is a bad thing, but economically it would be good (if it worked).
I think that we must do all we can to stop this trend. I see that it is claimed that Aids is killing African politicians faster than they can be replaced!
Hi Elle, what is the cold reality here.
Do these drugs work?
Can patients expect to survive or lead ‘normal’ lives.
Are the costs astronomical, and are we simply creating more business and profits for a pharmaceutical industry – whose business is to promote disease and treatments or cures.
Should we not spend more money on preventing any diseases including the number of diabetics and other ‘treatable’ diseases.
The most effective and cheapest way in African countries to combat HIV and AIDS would be for the Catholic Church to change it stance on male contraception.
Not the overall solution – but a start!