The global epidemic is stabilising but at an unacceptably high level
The 2008 Report on the global AIDS epidemic, written by the World Health Organisation, considers the HIV response to date and assesses what must be done to ensure nations achieve the HIV commitments they have made. It documents the considerable progress made by many countries. For example there has been a six fold increase in financing for HIV programmes in low- and middle- income countries since 2001, while decreases in AIDS deaths and new infections are apparent in many countries. However, progress is uneven and there is still a need for intensified action towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.
In Chapters 1 and 2 assess the progress made by 147 countries in implementing the 2001 Declaration of commitment on HIV/AIDS and the current status of the global epidemic. A variety of indicators, based on national progress reports and supplemented by other data sources, are used. The report shows that the global percentage of people living with HIV has stabilised since 2000, but at an unacceptably high level, with an estimated 33 million people living with HIV in 2007. The rate of new HIV infection has fallen in several countries, although these falls are offset by increases in new infectious in other countries.
The remaining chapters cover the following topics:
Chapter 3: Addressing the societal causes of HIV risk and vulnerability
Chapter 4: Preventing new HIV infections: the key to reversing the epidemic
Chapter 5: treatment and care: unprecedented progress, remaining challenges
Chapter 6: Mitigating the epidemic’s impact on households, communities and societies.
The report concludes by addressing how to sustain an effective, robust HIV response for the long term and outlines key actions required to sustain the current achievements over the coming decades.
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Source: Eldis
