UNITED NATIONS, June 16 (Xinhua) -- The UN General Assembly convened on Tuesday a plenary session to assess the world's progress in the fight against AIDS, with top UN officials calling on member states to ensure adequate funding to tackle the global epidemic.
Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto told delegates that financial resources for HIV increased in 2008 and there is continuing progress in bringing HIV treatments to patients, including women and children.
But, more needs to be done before the world can meet its promise made in 2006, when the General Assembly pledged to achieve universal access to comprehensive HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010, he said.
Latest statistics show that there are 29 million people who need care, support, prevention measures and HIV treatment worldwide that still lack these medications; roughly two out of three HIV-positive pregnant women do not receive services to prevent mother-to-child transmission; and the pace of the new HIV infections is occurring faster than the rate at which we are expanding treatment access.
In Africa alone, there are 22 million people living with HIV and in 2007, three out of four AIDS deaths world-wide occurred in this region.
People living with HIV/AIDs have been placed at greater risk as a result of the global financial and economic crisis that is crippling economies around the world, the assembly president said.
"As a result of this ongoing crisis, I fear that many governments are resigned to reducing program and diminished expectations," he said. "Inevitably, people are questioning the feasibility of visionary global aims during a time of economic crisis."
The recently declared H1N1 pandemic adds a new level of complexity and further tests our collective will, he noted.
"But it is precisely when times are difficult that our true values and the sincerity of our commitment are most clearly evident," he said.
"Even as we see signs of cutbacks in AIDS funding in many countries, we must remind governments and the international community that the world has the resources to mount the kind of AIDS response to which we have committed," he said.
"If we allow cuts now, we will face increased costs and great human suffering in the future," D'Escoto said.
In 2006, the General Assembly pledged to achieve universal access to comprehensive HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010. A report by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on progress on HIV/AIDS commitments shows that achieving national universal access targets by 2010 will require an estimated annual outlay of 25 billion U.S. dollars within two years.
The secretary-general's report also highlights a number of encouraging developments such as countries establishing clear national targets for universal access, and a continued increase in financing for HIV programs in low- and middle-income countries, reaching 13.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2008.
At the same time, the report says considerable challenges remain, including significant access gaps for key HIV-related services. Also, the pace of new infections continues to outstrip the expansion of treatment programs, and commitment to HIV prevention remains inadequate.
"Now is not the time to falter," Ban told the meeting. "The economic crisis should not be an excuse to abandon commitments -- it should be an impetus to make the right investments that will yield benefits for generations to come."
Ban said that a vigorous and effective response to the AIDS epidemic is integrally linked to meeting global commitments to reduce poverty, prevent hunger, lower childhood mortality, and protect the health and well being of women.
"But to achieve the goal of universal access, barriers to progress need to be overcome. Not just in battling the disease, but also in confronting obstacles that society puts in the way," he said, adding that the fight against AIDS also requires attacking "diseases of the human spirit -- prejudice, discrimination, stigma."
He called on all governments to review their legal frameworks to ensure compliance with the human rights principles on which a sound AIDS response is based. "This is not solely a medical or scientific challenge. It is a moral challenge, too," he said.
Some 84 countries have reported that they have laws and policies that act as obstacles to effective HIV prevention, treatment, care and support for vulnerable populations, according to UNAIDS.
