Million Africans gain HIV drugs: WHO
More than one million people in sub-Saharan Africa are getting life-saving drugs for HIV for the first time, but reaching the goal of providing nearly universal access to prevention, treatment and care remains elusive.
People in sub-Saharan Africa have seen a 10-fold increase in access to treatment since December 2003,the World Health Organization reported Wednesday at the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto.
The combination of medications prevents pregnant women from passing the virus to their infants and improves the lives of people infected with HIV.
"We have reached just one-quarter of the people in need in low- and middle-income countries, and the number of those who need treatment will continue to grow," Dr. Kevin De Cock, WHO's HIV/AIDSdirector, told the conference. "Our efforts to overcome the obstacles to treatment access must grow even faster."
The United Nations and the G-8 countries have endorsed the goal of providing nearly universal access by 2010.
Of the 38.6 million people living with HIV worldwide, about 6.8 million live in low-and middle-income countries and need antiretroviral therapy.
The drugs are usually not prescribed until the virus starts to cause significant harm to the body's immune system.
Children left behind
But only about 10 per cent of people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa know their status, making it harder to evaluate testing and counselling services, according to the agency.
Children in particular are missing out, since HIV drugs geared to them cost up to six times morethan adult versions.
"An estimated 800,000 children below the age of 15 require antiretroviral therapy, the vast majority in Africa," De Cock said. Only about 60,000 to 100,000 receive it."We must conclude that scale-up has so far left children behind."
Aside from spending from governments, WHO, Medecins Sans Frontieres, former U.S. president Bill Clinton's foundation, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria and others are helping with the scale-up by driving down the costs of the drugs and providing generic versions to poor countries.