We, Heads of State and Government and Representatives of States and Governments, assembled at the United Nations, from 25 to 27 June 2001, for the twenty-sixth special session of the General Assembly convened in accordance with resolution 55/13, as a matter of urgency, to review and address the problem of HIV/AIDS in all its aspects as well as to secure a global commitment to enhancing coordination and intensification of national, regional and international efforts to combat it in a comprehensive manner.
Equity in Health
A concerted campaign anchored to popular teenage
culture is slowing down the rate of HIV-infection among one of Zambia's most vulnerable demographic groups: older teenagers in urban areas.
In those who are severely immunosuppressed, the treatment and prophylaxis of opportunistic infections remains important. This article, an adaptation of the 5th edition of the "ABC of AIDS," covers the management of opportunistic infections such as Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, toxoplasmosis, cryptosporidiosis, as well as various viral, bacterial, and fungal infections in those with AIDS.
India, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa each have at least 2 million adults suffering from AIDS or infected with the HIV virus, according to a new UN statistical analysis released on Thursday.
The French humanitarian group Medicines Sans Frontieres (MSF) has launched an independently run and financed programme in Khayelitsha township outside Cape Town, South Africa, that provides a small group of impoverished people with AIDS access to a cocktail of three antiretroviral drugs. The programme will assess the feasibility of providing the therapy in a poor township from primary health-care centers run by local government. "Given the heatedpolitical context, we will be monitoring the project carefully," said Toby Kasper, coordinator of MSF's Access to Essential Medicines Campaign.
Zimbabwe could face zero population growth next year due to the rising death rate caused by HIV/AIDS, state television reported Saturday."It is hitting us where it hurts most," said Health Minister Timothy Stamps, noting that AIDS is killing the country's skilled and productive youth. According to Stamps, 100,000 people died of AIDS last year in Zimbabwe. Official statistics put the weekly AIDS death toll at 2,000 in Zimbabwe, where one-fourth of the population is infected with HIV.
A proposed new multi-billion dollar global fund for health will concentrate on Aids prevention rather than the mass purchase of expensive anti-retroviral drugs, a United Nations conference in Geneva concluded on Monday. The proposed fund is likely to be formally launched later this month at a UN conference on Aids in New York or at the Group of Eight meeting in Genoa in July. Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, has said the fund needs $7bn-$10bn, but it seems likely to raise only around $1bn this year, with the US pledging $200m.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK.L) said on Monday it was extending its offer of cheap AIDS drugs to a total of 63 countries, following pressure from activists and charity groups. The medicines will be offered at the cost of production to governments, aid agencies and churches in all Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and any country in sub-Saharan Africa.
House International Relations Committee Chair Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) yesterday introduced a bill to authorize more than $1 billion to fight HIV/AIDS internationally and initiate a $50 million pilot program for AIDS treatment, part of "a comprehensive strategy to combat the global pandemic," the Washington Times reports.
The World Bank's Indigenous Knowledge for Development Program, the US National Institute of Health and representatives of African traditional healers have agreed to work together on validating herbal treatments of HIV/AIDS-related opportunistic infections. In a seminar hosted by the World Bank's indigenous knowledge program earlier this week, the Tanga AIDS Working Group (TAWG) of Tanzania and the Center for Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Agricultural Byproducts (CIKSAP) of Kenya presented their approaches to healthcare, based on indigenous knowledge.