Global AIDS conference: UN calls for scaling up global response
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon has called on nations to advance knowledge about HIV/AIDS and build innovative partnerships to strengthen global response to the endemic.
Speaking at the opening press conference of the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016), in Durban, South Africa, Ban said, “To end this epidemic, we must close the gaps that keep people from accessing services and living with dignity. We have to expand resources, science and services,” he added, stressing the need to protect and promote the rights of people living with HIV, gay men and other men who have sex with men, transgender people, sex workers, people who inject drugs and prisoners.
“When we do this, we can end stigma and discrimination, prevent the spread of HIV, and save lives,” he said.
With this year’s theme on: Access Equity Rights Now, the global AIDS response has since evolved, with the number of people with access to life-saving HIV treatment reaching 15 million by 2015. From 2002 to 2012, expanded access to HIV treatment averted 4.2 million deaths globally and contributed to a 58 per cent reduction in new HIV infections, according to the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), a co-organizer of the AIDS conference.
However, many of the obstacles that impeded effective HIV prevention and treatment programs in 2000 still exist, with more than 60 per cent of people living with HIV remaining without antiretroviral therapy.
