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World Aids Day sparks aid calls

01/12/2007

International organisations and world leaders have called for greater action to fight HIV/Aids as World Aids Day is observed today.

US president George Bush called on US lawmakers to approve a doubling in financial efforts to fight the disease to $30bn (£15bn) over the next five years.

Speaking at a prayer service in Maryland yesterday, Mr Bush said: "We will turn the tide against HIV/Aids once and for all."

He also announced that he would visit Africa to see how efforts to combat the virus transmitted through unprotected sex and infected needles were progressing.

People around the world are wearing red ribbons to mark the day and a concert to spread awareness has been organised in South Africa by former president Nelson Mandela.

United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon also called for greater efforts from the international community to increase their contributions towards combating the disease.

He said: "I call for leadership among all governments in fully understanding the epidemic so that resources go where they are most needed.

"And I call for leadership at all levels to scale up towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010."

The United Nations recently reduced its estimate of those suffering from HIV/Aids from 40 million to 33 million people due to a change in measurement methods. But the world body's health organisation warned against complacency in the face of lower figures.

A spokesperson for the World Health Organisation (WHO) said: "Today, HIV/Aids is overwhelmingly concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, where it thrives on and traps people in poverty. This region accounts for over two thirds of people living with HIV and over three quarters of HIV-associated deaths.

"In all regions, the proportion of women living with HIV is growing. In sub-Saharan Africa, it now approaches 61%, the highest in the world. The infection of women amplifies the tragedy. These are wives, mothers, caregivers, and often the backbone of family and community cohesion."

The WHO said that plans to guarantee universal access to treatment programmes were still far off and that there were 1.7 million new cases of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa this year alone.