Akhir 27, 1432 / April 1, 2011, SPA -- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged world leaders to take bold decisions to tackle the AIDS epidemic, as he launched a new United Nations report that warns that recent gains, while laudable, are fragile. The report, "Uniting for universal access: towards zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths," comes 30 years into the AIDS epidemic and just months ahead of a high-level meeting of the General Assembly in June on the issue. "Ten years ago, the international community came together at the General Assembly special session on HIV/AIDS and set targets for the year 2010. Now it is time to take a hard look at where we failed ... where we succeeded ... and why," Ban said at the launch of the report in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. The report, based on data from 182 countries, highlights that the global rate of new HIV infections is declining, treatment access is expanding and the world has made significant strides in reducing HIV transmission from mother to child. For example, between 2001 and 2009, the rate of new HIV infections in 33 countries - including 22 in sub-Saharan Africa - fell by at least 25 per cent. By the end of 2010, more than 6 million people were on antiretroviral treatment in low- and middle-income countries. And for the first time, in 2009, global coverage of services to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV exceeded 50 per cent. Despite these achievements, the report underscores that the gains are fragile. For every person who starts antiretroviral treatment, two people become newly infected with HIV, and every day 7,000 people are newly infected, including 1,000 children. "Thirty years into the epidemic, it is imperative for us to re-energize the response today for success in the years ahead," said Michel Sidibe, Executive Director of the Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), who was with Ban at the launch of the report. "Gains in HIV prevention and antiretroviral treatment are significant, but we need to do more to stop people from becoming infected-an HIV prevention revolution is needed now more than ever," he added.
