The high-level UN meeting on AIDS, on June 10-11, 2008, lauded steps taken to combat the epidemic but emphasised that more accountability of funds and greater access to treatment were among the measures that governments must take seriously

Though significant progress has been made in combating HIV/AIDS, the global AIDS epidemic continues to outpace the response was the message from the 2008 high-level meeting that took place at the United Nations headquarters in New York from June 10-11, 2008.

The global AIDS epidemic continues to threaten economic and social development and countries need to continue their commitment to work with UNAIDS and other partners to reach towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010, said a conference press release.

The meeting witnessed high-level participation from UN member states as well as representatives from civil society and UN agencies, funds and programmes. An important part of the agenda was reviewing progress made towards reaching the goal of providing universal access by 2010.

Countries highlighted the significant progress made in mobilising resources, increasing political commitment and participation of civil society organisations in the response. Also, the exceptional scale-up of antiretroviral therapy.

It was pointed out that there should be greater accountability, particularly in relation to funds spent by all stakeholders. There was also the need to adapt HIV prevention programming to local contexts. Lack of effective programming directed at populations that are especially vulnerable to the disease, especially sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender populations and injecting drug users, and the continued criminalisation of related behaviours, were some of the challenges highlighted by countries and civil society. Participants also called for the removal of travel restrictions for people living with HIV.

In 2007, around $ 10 billion was estimated to be available for the global response to the epidemic, but the shortfall between actual need and funds available was estimated to be around $ 8 billion. Many donor countries attending the meet reiterated their support for the global response over the long-term.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon presented the report on progress in implementing the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the 2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS.

Key findings of the report include:

• An estimated 33.2 million (range: 30.6-36.1 million) people worldwide were living with HIV as of December 2007.
• The annual rate of new HIV infections appears to have decreased over the last decade, with an estimated 2.5 million people newly infected with HIV in 2007 -- down from 3.2 million in 1998. The annual number of AIDS deaths has declined from 3.9 million in 2001 to 2.1 million in 2007.
• Antiretroviral coverage reached 3 million people in low- and middle-income countries, approximately 30% of those in need. Despite the existence of affordable treatments for tuberculosis, only 31% of people with HIV/TB co-infection received both antiretroviral and anti-TB drugs in 2007.
• Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 68% of all adults living with HIV, 90% of the world's HIV-infected children, and 76% of all AIDS deaths in 2007. It is the most affected region.
• Worldwide, women represent half of all HIV infections among adults, but 61% of those infected are in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Although the rate of new infections has fallen globally, the number of people newly infected has increased in some countries including China, Indonesia, Russia and Ukraine, in European Union countries and in North America.
• The number of new infections has yet to fall in some of the most heavily affected countries such as Lesotho, Swaziland and South Africa. Moreover, even where infection levels have stabilised or declined, the dimensions of the epidemic remain alarming -- especially in sub-Saharan Africa where HIV remains one of the greatest threats to development.
• The rate of progress in expanding access to essential services is failing to keep pace with the expansion of the epidemic itself. While an additional 1 million people were started on antiretrovirals in 2007, 2.5 million people were newly infected.

Source: www.un.org/ga/aidsmeeting2008, June 2008