The global AIDS community convened in Toronto, Canada this week for the XVI International AIDS Conference. Over 24,000 researchers, international leaders, and activists from more than 170 countries are participating in the week-long summit.
Important insights from the meeting include the need for increased access to treatment for HIV/AIDS patients. According to reports, only about 24 percent of all individuals who could benefit from antiretroviral drug treatments are receiving them. While the number of patients receiving this therapy in sub-Saharan Africa has continued to climb in recent years, the majority of the 76 percent of individuals left untreated are found in this region. Of particular concern are women with HIV, who number 13.2 million in sub-Saharan Africa, and children (one in seven people dying of HIV-related illness is a child under the age of 15). With approximately 4 million new people infected each year worldwide, conference presenters are drawing attention to the need for a greater focus on effective prevention measures, increased efforts in fighting curable diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) that also impact those with HIV/AIDS, and scaling-up action plans to provide universal access to treatment by 2010.
RELATED LINKS:
XVI International AIDS Conference: 13-18 August 2006
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
UNAIDS/WHO Global Facts and Figures
EarthTrends Information on HIV/AIDS
EarthTrends post on UNAIDS 2006 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic
