E-DRUG: UNITAID Supports MSF report on need for commitment to ARV treatment
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Efforts to Combat AIDS Need to Be Strengthened, not Diminished
UNITAID welcomes and fully supports the new Médecins sans Frontières (MSF)
report 'Punishing Success? Early Signs of a retreat from Commitment to
HIV/AIDS Care and Treatment', a timely plea for global leaders to remain
firmly committed to achieving universal treatment coverage for people living
with HIV/AIDS.
Ten years of global efforts and dedicated funding have put over four million
people on HIV/AIDS treatment in developing countries. In the process,
millions of others have benefited from better equipped health facilities and
the increased resources for health largely mobilized by HIV/AIDS.
However, another six million people currently in need of life-saving AIDS
medicines - almost two million of them children - are still waiting. And
the current rate of HIV transmission indicates that even more patients will
be in need of treatment in the next decades, including newer, more effective
medicines to combat resistant strains of the disease.
Some recent trends in global health thinking advocate for a reduction in
spending for HIV/AIDS in a difficult economic climate in favour of other
health priorities. However, the financial crisis, said Jorge Bermudez,
UNITAID Executive Secretary, "should not be used as an excuse to renege on
commitments. Rather, we need to redistribute resources in such a way that
saving economies does not imperil lives."
HIV/AIDS constitutes as much as 50% of illness and death in high prevalence
countries. Not addressing it, or reducing existing interventions, will not
only cause more deaths, it will actually put unsustainable pressure on
already weak health systems.
“The MSF report shows that targeting HIV/AIDS has achieved real results,
including benefits for other health priorities such as child and maternal
health,” added Jorge Bermudez. “Not only do we need to keep up the momentum
on AIDS, we need to create the same momentum for other health priorities.”
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