In Brief

AIDS battle needs urgent new funding

Some $22 billion will be needed to reverse the spread of AIDS in the developing world in 2008, up from $8.0 billion available in 2005, according to the latest estimates by UNAIDS (see Table 1). The UN agency says that some 40 million people are living with the virus and close to 5 million people were newly infected with HIV in 2004 alone (see Table 2).

Sub-Saharan Africa remains the world's worst-affected region. While it accounts for just over 10 percent of the world's population, it is home to more than 60 percent of all people living with HIV. The Caribbean has the world's second highest level of infection, and AIDS has become the leading cause of death in the region among adults aged 15-44. While rates of infection are lower in Asia, the agency warns that without immediate action, the Asian region could witness an additional 12 million new infections during 2005-10.

At this stage of the epidemic, there are more new HIV infections every year (around 5 million) than AIDS-related deaths (around 3 million), but only 15 percent of those needing treatment worldwide are receiving it. The number of new infections must be dramatically reduced in the next few years to ensure that scaled up antiretroviral treatment remains economically and socially sustainable. The implementation of a comprehensive HIV prevention package could avert 29 million (around 63 percent) of the 45 million new infections that had been forecast during 2002-10. Africa will focus on the issue in December when Nigeria hosts the 14th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA). "Any serious discussion about alleviating poverty in Africa must confront the challenge of AIDS and the severe conditions it has created within families," Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the current chairman of the African Union, told a press conference.

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