The lives of 18 million people waiting for treatment for HIV are “hanging in the balance”, said Dr. Michel SidibÂŽ, the head of UNAIDS, the United Nations agency dealing with HIV and AIDS.
Dr. SidibÂŽ was speaking at a meeting hosted by the World Bank in Washington, D.C. to discuss the post-2015 development agenda.
2015 is the deadline for meeting the Millennium Development Goals, set by world leaders in the year 2000 to fight disease, extreme poverty and promote gender equality.
Dr. SidibÂŽ stressed the need for cooperation to ensure universal access to anti-retroviral drugs.
He said today about ten million people living with HIV have access to treatment.
“Let us not forget that you have almost probably 18 million people waiting for that treatment and their life is hanging in the balance. So the challenge is ending extreme poverty and ending AIDS pandemic are deeply inter-connected. Time has come for us to not be again fragmented and continuing to just work in isolation but make sure that we combine our efforts and resources
strategically across sectors.”
Participants in the Washington D.C. meeting included leaders of the World Bank, the UN Development Programme, Dr. Julio Montaner, director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, and other prominent non-profit organizations involved in development issues.
“The promise of an AIDS-free generation is real. We have the means to prevent death, prevent morbidity, and stop HIV transmission,” said Dr. Montaner. “To reverse the advance of HIV we must ramp up and fully roll out Treatment as Prevention everywhere, something that is not possible unless we work in coordination to ensure those most in need of treatment and care are able to receive it.”
Source: UNAIDS