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Center for Communications, Health and the Environment

Winter 2004

Vol. 12, Issue 2

New Challenges Confront Global Fight
Against AIDS

Changing the Course of the AIDS Epidemic Requires Action on All Fronts
by Peter Piot, M.D., Ph.D., Executive Director, UNAIDS, Geneva

This is a decisive moment in the global response to AIDS. Growing rates of infection and death are finally being met with the commitment to mount a truly comprehensive response.

In fact, given recent statistics, AIDS is now understood as much more than a health catastrophe; it has become a long-term development crisis, and a serious security concern.

In 2003, 4.8 million people were newly infected with HIV, more than in any previous year, and nearly 3 million people died of the disease. Currently, 38 million people are living with HIV or AIDS, and infection rates are on the rise in many areas, including Eastern Europe and Asia. There is also an increasing feminization of the epidemic: Today, about half of all people infected with HIV are women, and young women in sub-Saharan Africa are 3.4 times more likely to be HIV-positive than their male counterparts. [see full article...]

Sub-Saharan Africa:
Inequality - and Effective Responses - Coexist in AIDS epicenter
by Peter Lamptey, M.D. Dr.PH., President, and Rebecca Oser, M.PH, Associate Technical Officer, Institute for HIV/AIDS, Family Health International, Arlington, Va.

HIV/AIDS is likely to surpass the Black Plague as history’s most deadly pandemic: Without drastic measures, we can expect as many as 65 million deaths from AIDS over the next 10 to 15 years.

Approximately 95 percent of new infections are currently in the world's poorest countries, but HIV/AIDS knows no boundaries, has no cultural immunity, and does not spare children, killing many and orphaning more. Recently, there have been several significant, new global political and financial commitments to expand and accelerate HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment. These measures offer hope, but so much more must be done to quell the tide and impact of this devastating epidemic. [see full article...]

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CECHE Center for Communications, Health and the Environment
Winter 2004	Vol. 12, Issue 2
New Challenges Confront Global Fight Against AIDS
Download a complete Monitor (PDF-618KB) Please tell me when the next issue is out! subscribe unsubscribe This site is best viewed using Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher.	Changing the Course of the AIDS Epidemic Requires Action on All Fronts by Peter Piot, M.D., Ph.D., Executive Director, UNAIDS, Geneva
	This is a decisive moment in the global response to AIDS. Growing rates of infection and death are finally being met with the commitment to mount a truly comprehensive response. In fact, given recent statistics, AIDS is now understood as much more than a health catastrophe; it has become a long-term development crisis, and a serious security concern. In 2003, 4.8 million people were newly infected with HIV, more than in any previous year, and nearly 3 million people died of the disease. Currently, 38 million people are living with HIV or AIDS, and infection rates are on the rise in many areas, including Eastern Europe and Asia. There is also an increasing feminization of the epidemic: Today, about half of all people infected with HIV are women, and young women in sub-Saharan Africa are 3.4 times more likely to be HIV-positive than their male counterparts. [see full article...] Sub-Saharan Africa: Inequality - and Effective Responses - Coexist in AIDS epicenter by Peter Lamptey, M.D. Dr.PH., President, and Rebecca Oser, M.PH, Associate Technical Officer, Institute for HIV/AIDS, Family Health International, Arlington, Va. HIV/AIDS is likely to surpass the Black Plague as history’s most deadly pandemic: Without drastic measures, we can expect as many as 65 million deaths from AIDS over the next 10 to 15 years. Approximately 95 percent of new infections are currently in the world's poorest countries, but HIV/AIDS knows no boundaries, has no cultural immunity, and does not spare children, killing many and orphaning more. Recently, there have been several significant, new global political and financial commitments to expand and accelerate HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment. These measures offer hope, but so much more must be done to quell the tide and impact of this devastating epidemic. [see full article...]
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