UN warns world losing Aids fight by AP / China Daily / CNN International 2:15pm 4th Jun, 2005   11 June, 2005 (Reuters)    Nelson Mandela's G8 plea at Aids concert .    Former South African President Nelson Mandela has urged G8 leaders to show "leadership, vision and political courage" in the fight against HIV/Aids.    He was speaking at an Aids benefit concert organised in his name in the high Arctic Norwegian city of Tromsoe. Rock stars such as Annie Lennox, Robert Plant and Peter Gabriel took part in the fourth such event.    The Mandela 46664 concert - named after his prison number - was thought to have attracted 15,000 people.    To thunderous applause, Mr Mandela delivered his message to the leaders of the G8 countries ahead of their summit in Scotland in three weeks time.    "They have an historical opportunity to open the door to hope and the possibility for a better future for all," said the 86-year-old, who lost his son to Aids in January.    "History and generations to come will judge our leaders by the decisions they make in the coming weeks. "We urge them to save the lives of our children - let every child be a healthy child. "We know what to do and what it will cost. We now need leadership, vision and political courage."    An estimated 5.3 million of South Africa's 45 million people live with HIV, more than in any other country.    Worldwide it is estimated that 25 million people are infected with the virus and millions more contract it each year.    More than a million people are infected in Russia and the other former Soviet states, and an estimated five million people in India are HIV positive.11 June,    June 4, 2005 (Associated Press )    The Aids pandemic is outpacing many countries' efforts at prevention, UN officials say, acknowledging that the goal of containing the disease by 2015 may now be unrealistic.    A day-long conference noted some progress, including signs of success in Africa and a big increase worldwide in the number of people receiving Aids counselling and testing.    But efforts to control Aids were failing in regions including eastern Europe and central America, said Peter Piot, the head of the UN campaign to combat Aids.    "What we are faced with is multiple epidemics," Mr Piot said. "We are still moving into the globalisation of the Aids epidemic."    A few hours before Mr Piot spoke, Kofi Annan, the secretary general, noted that just 12% of the people who need antiretroviral therapies in poorer countries were getting them.    Mr Piot said some success was evident in Africa, citing declines in the number of new HIV infections among young people in the capitals of Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Malawi, Zambia and Uganda, where people are more educated and prevention programmes have started.    But he said the £4.4bn being spent this year to combat the disease must be doubled annually.    Beijing. June 4, 2005. (China Daily)    The United Nations sounded new alarms over the devastating spread of the AIDS epidemic, and called on world leaders to immediately take new steps to solve a problem that threatens to overwhelm future generations.    "It's clear that the epidemic continues to outrun our efforts to contain it," UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said in opening statements to a one-day world conference on HIV/AIDS at UN headquarters in New York.    Delegates from 120 countries, including 40 ministers of health, have gathered here to discuss how to reach UN goals set four years ago aimed at reducing the impact of HIV/AIDS through timed targets.    "Last year saw more new infections and AIDS-related deaths than ever before," said Annan. "If we are to reach the Millennium Development Goal of halting and beginning to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015, then we must do much, much more," he added.    Approximately 40 million people are living with HIV in the world today. According to Annan, only 12 per cent of those in poor countries who need anti-retroviral drugs are getting them.    The UN chief praised efforts by international organizations such as UNAIDS, which co-ordinates several UN agencies in fighting against AIDS, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, for making drugs available in poor countries.    Annan also called on those countries to develop comprehensive plans to fight the epidemic, to develop HIV/AIDS action plans, and to set up national AIDS co-ordinating authorities and national monitoring and evaluation systems. Better funding and leadership are also necessary, said Annan, along with better education of women and girls, who account for about half those infected with HIV.    Director of UNAIDS Peter Piot said that in order to beat the epidemic, it is necessary that AIDS "get the same level of attention and concern by the world's leaders as they give to global security - not an iota less. "Nothing less than universal access to effective HIV prevention and treatment will be sufficient if we are to keep this epidemic from engulfing the next generations," said Piot. A funding gap of several billion US dollars needs to be closed in order for poor people to access drugs, said Piot.    Annan also reminded delegates that world leaders will meet at a world summit in September to review the Millennium Development Goals they agreed upon in 2000, among which is the goal to reverse the spread of AIDS. "The task this year will be much tougher than in 2000 when the declaration was adopted," said Annan. "Instead of setting targets, this time leaders must decide how to achieve them."    Meanwhile, a senior UN AIDS specialist said the world will not meet its goal of halting and reversing the spread of AIDS in 10 years if the disease continues to race faster than efforts to stop it.    Presidents and prime ministers, meeting at the United Nations nearly five years go, set a series of Millennium Development Goals, among them halting and beginning to reverse by 2015 the spread of AIDS and HIV, the virus that causes it.    "We are still moving into a globalization of the AIDS epidemic, think of eastern Europe, central America, Asia, and maybe tomorrow, the Middle East as well," Peter Piot, head of the UN campaign, told a news conference during the meeting. "I think it is a realistic (goal) in many countries, but not in every country in the world," Piot said.    More than 39 million people are living with the disease, despite US$8 billion in anticipated spending this year, most of them in Africa. Piot said the funds and programmes had made the most impact in East Africa, from Ethiopia to Rwanda, but not in southern Africa or in West Africa.    Some of the worst predictions have come to pass. Nearly half of those infected with HIV are women and girls, whether married or single, promiscuous or faithful. "The trend is that more young women are being infected than young men," Thoraya Obeid, the head of the UN Population Fund. "If they are married, they can't abstain. They are faithful but the husband is not faithful." Women, she said, need information, including how to use a female condom to protect themselves, often a sensitive issue, particularly among conservative United States religious groups who favour abstinence-only programmes and oppose programmes for prostitutes, homosexuals and drug addicts.    Worldwide, the UN report said, some US$8 billion will be available in 2005 to fund programmes in 135 low and middle-income countries, a dramatic 23 per cent increase over the previous year. Of this amount, rich countries have contributed some US$6.7 billion, six times more than the world spent in 2001.    The money comes mainly from the US, which spent US$2.4 billion last year, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria - an independent organization of governments, business and private groups first proposed by Annan four years ago. The US funds make up a third of the fund's total budget, while Europeans contribute 55 per cent. A global task team said at least US$8 billion more is needed over the next three years for prevention, testing and treatment programmes around the world.    (source: www.chinaview.cn)    June 2, 2005    "Annan bemoans efforts to combat HIV/AIDS", by Liz Neisloss. (CNN International)    U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday told a U.N. special conference on HIV/AIDS that the global response to the disease was insufficient, saying "the epidemic continues to outrun our efforts to contain it."    The executive director of UNAIDS, Dr. Peter Piot, also told the conference that the AIDS epidemic needs to get the same attention from world leaders as "the most urgent security threats and crises" and "not an iota less."    Piot said a funding gap of billions needs to be closed to ensure universal access to HIV prevention and treatment. "Nothing less than universal access to effective HIV prevention and treatment will be sufficient if we are to keep this epidemic from engulfing the next generations," he said.    Kofi Annan praised prevention programs in Brazil, Cambodia and Thailand. In a report released at Thursday's gathering, Annan said that "the overall epidemic continues to expand with much of the world at risk of falling short of the targets set forth in the declaration."    "While political commitment to the AIDS response has become significantly stronger since 2001, it remains inadequate in many countries in which the epidemic is emerging as a major problem," Annan said. "Strong and energetic leadership is especially vital in all countries in Asia and Eastern Europe, where the opportunity to prevent the epidemic from becoming generalized is quickly vanishing."    The following are key findings of the U.N. report:    * Many of the most affected countries are at risk of falling short of the target of reducing by 2005 the level of infection in young men and women 15 to 24.    * While those on antiretroviral therapy increased by nearly two-thirds during the second half of 2004, 12 percent of people who need such treatment in low and middle-income countries were receiving it as of December.    * Many countries have yet to adopt legislation that will prevent discrimination against people living with HIV, and even fewer have enacted measures to promote and protect the human rights of vulnerable populations.    * There is a growing crisis of HIV/AIDS orphans and vulnerable children, but "national efforts and the level of donor support are currently not sufficient."    * There is an "acute shortage of trained personnel who possess the requisite skills and expertise."    * Spending trends will cause a "significant shortfall" by 2007.    Piot also said that "over the past four years two disquieting facts become evident: One is that AIDS is an unprecedented global crisis. There is simply no other example of that kind."    "The other is that until and unless we control this epidemic, it will continue to expand [and] worsen for decades, killing unbelievably large numbers of people and wrecking societies." Visit the related web page
	Next (more recent) news item
	Next (older) news item