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Note: This document is from the archive of the Africa Policy E-Journal, published
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Africa: AIDS, New UN Updates
Africa: AIDS, New UN Updates
Date distributed (ymd): 001204
Document reposted by APIC
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: Continent-Wide
Issue Areas: +economy/development+
Summary Contents:
This posting contains three new statements from UNAIDS on HIV/AIDS
in sub-Saharan Africa, where the UN agency estimated 2.4 million
people dead from AIDS in 2000, with some 3.8 newly infected. The
statements include a joint UNAIDS/WHO press release, an updated
fact sheet, and a press release on Uganda's successes against the
pandemic. Another posting sent out today includes statements from
the Economic Commission for Africa's African Development Forum
currently under way in Addis Ababa.
Many other groups have released new reports on HIV/AIDS and Africa
in the last week, including: the Africa-America Institute
(http://www.aaionline.org/bp/aidsday/report.html), the Global
Treatment Access Campaign (http://www.globaltreatmentaccess.org),
Doctors without Borders (http://www.accessmed-msf.org), and the
International Labour Organization
(http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/pr/2000/48.htm).
For additional sources and earlier documents see
http://www.africapolicy.org/action/health.htm
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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JOINT UNAIDS/WHO PRESS RELEASE
ONE MILLION MORE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA,
NEW REPORT REVEALS
Catastrophic impact could be substantially reduced with a
relatively modest contribution from developed nations
For additional information and the World AIDS Day Press kit
please visit the UNAIDS web site at
(http://www.unaids.org/wac/2000/wad00/presskit_wad.html).
Berlin, 28 November 2000 - New figures released today show an
estimated 3.8 million people became infected with HIV in
sub-Saharan Africa during the year, bringing the total number of
people living with HIV or AIDS in the region to 25.3 million, up
nearly a million from last year's figure. At the same time, 2.4
million people died in Africa of AIDS this year, up from 2.2
million in 1999, according to AIDS Epidemic Update: December
2000, released today by the Joint United Nations Programme on
HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
"The AIDS situation in Africa is catastrophic," said Dr Peter
Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS, "and sub-Saharan Africa
continues to head the list as the world's most affected region.
One of the greatest causes for concern is that over the next few
years, the epidemic is bound to get worse before it gets better.
A relatively modest contribution - US$3 billion - would do
something to turn this situation around. This is a fraction of
the US$52 billion spent annually in the US on obesity."
Experts assessing the epidemic have concluded that additional
funds of US$3 billion would go a substantial way towards coping
with the epidemic, at least in sub-Saharan Africa. It is
estimated that US$ 1.5 billion are needed for prevention efforts,
and the other half for basic care of those already infected.
"The region faces a triple challenge: providing care for the
growing population of people infected with HIV, bringing down new
infections through more effective prevention, and coping with the
impact of 17 million deaths on the continent," Dr Piot said.
Despite the number of new infections, certain parts of
sub-Saharan Africa are showing stable or reduced infection rates.
The continent registered 3.8 million new infections in 2000,
compared with 4 million in 1999.
"If HIV infections start to explode in relatively less affected
countries, the annual number of new infections in the region
could start rising again," warned Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland,
Director General of the World Health Organization.
The report says the fall or stabilization of new infections may
be due to two factors. First, effective prevention programmes in
countries like Uganda have brought down national infection rates.
Second, with over one in four adults already infected in some
countries, there are relatively fewer people still likely to
become infected, particularly within high-risk or vulnerable
population groups.
In the most affected countries, AIDS is crippling national
economies and undermining businesses. In South Africa, one of
Africa's strongest economies, the epidemic may cut Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) by 17% by 2010 and wipe US$ 22 billion off the
national economy. In Bostwana, the African country with the
highest GDP but also the world's highest HIV rate, the government
budget will be cut by 20% over the next decade because of AIDS
and the poorest households will suffer a 13% reduction in income.
AIDS is also affecting African business. Companies are losing
productivity and spending more on hiring and retraining as their
workforces fall ill. Firms are also paying more for insurance and
medical care.
The UNAIDS/WHO report also reveals up-to-date figures for parts
of Africa where there has been little information about HIV until
now. In Northern Africa, new evidence suggests infections are on
the rise. In southern Algeria, local studies show around 1% of
pregnant women attending antenatal clinics are HIV-infected. In
Sudan, HIV is spreading among the general population, both in the
north and the south of the country.
For more information, please contact Anne Winter, UNAIDS, Geneva,
(+41 22) 791 4577, Dominique de Santis, UNAIDS, Geneva, (+41 22)
791 4509 or Andrew Shih, UNAIDS, New York, (+ 1 212) 584 5024.
You may also visit the UNAIDS Home Page on the Internet for more
information about the programme (http://www.unaids.org).
UNAIDS Fact Sheet: HIV/AIDS in Africa
http://www.unaids.org/wac/2000/wad00/files/FS_Africa.htm
For the first time there are signs that HIV incidence may have
stabilized in sub-Saharan Africa. First, effective prevention has
helped reduce infection rates and second, with over one in four
adults al- ready infected in some countries, fewer people are
still likely to become infected. New infections in 2000 totalled
an estimated 3.8 million, compared with 4 million in 1999.
However, this may change if rates go up in countries where they
are still relatively low.
December 2000 UNAIDS
http://www.unaids.org/whatsnew/press/eng/ug0112.html
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
For Immediate Release
1 December 2000
Contact: Richard Delate, (+27 12) 338 5294, rdelate@un.org.az
UGANDA SUCCESSFUL EXAMPLE OF STRONG RESPONSE TO AIDS,
UNAIDS SAYS
RAKAI, Uganda (1 December 2000) - The AIDS epidemic can be
turned around when effort is sustained and measures are taken
well in advance, according to Peter Piot, Executive Director of
the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
"Uganda was one of the first countries in Africa to recognize the
threat posed by AIDS to development. It understood early on the
importance of long-term efforts in both prevention and care,"
said Dr Piot, visiting Uganda on the occasion of World AIDS Day.
"AIDS is a long-term emergency and commitments to slowing the
epidemic require renewal over decades. As Uganda has shown, there
are no short-cuts to AIDS. The sooner efforts start, the better
the chances of success."
Dr Piot said broad social mobilization was essential to the
response to AIDS. "This is not a question of government action in
isolation but a question of mass, sustained action. Every
church, every village, every association needs to be involved in
this epidemic because every church and every village has been
touched by it." He was speaking at a major World AIDS Day event
organized by the Uganda AIDS Commission in collaboration with the
UN Theme Group on HIV/AIDS in Uganda, an inter-agency working
group on AIDS.
In Uganda, all sectors of society were encouraged to take action
against AIDS and as a result, Ugandan HIV figures among certain
populations fell significantly.
"In Uganda, we have seen major success. The rate of HIV infection
among young girls 13 to 19 fell significantly over an eight-year
period. Among teenage boys - always much lower because boys are
less likely than girls to have partners in the older, more
heavily infected age groups - the rate has remained roughly
stable," said Michel Sidibe, UNICEF Representative and Chair of
the UN Theme Group. An increase in the age of first sexual
experience, fewer partners, and increased condom use have all
contributed to this.
"Efforts are now being made in Uganda to address HIV/AIDS at
district level to reinforce demands from communities and families
for better information and care as well as to build their
capacity to respond to the epidemic. Uganda's decentralized
system makes promoting action at the district level essential,"
Mr Sidibe said.
Significant progress in both prevention and care are crucial to
reversing the epidemic, and neither can be seen in isolation.
Both prevention and care share a number of core objectives, such
as encouraging openness, involving people with AIDS, and
supporting voluntary counselling and testing.
The emerging care agenda across the globe takes a broad-based
approach. All drugs need to be affordable, but they also need to
be delivered safely and in a way that improves the chances of
therapeutic success. So drug supply and distribution must be
sustainable, and equal attention is required across the total
continuum of care - from home based to hospital, from treatment
of infections to palliative care.
The Ugandan Ministry of Health is now developing a plan to
increase access to the essential care package for people living
with HIV/AIDS. Among other interventions, such a package would
include providing voluntary counselling and testing,
psycho-social support for people with HIV/AIDS and their
families, and improved access to antiretroviral drugs and to
medicines to prevent and treat opportunistic infections. ...
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by the
Africa Policy Information Center (APIC). APIC provides
accessible information and analysis in order to promote U.S.
and international policies toward Africa that advance economic,
political and social justice and the full spectrum of human
rights.
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