[Ip-health] UNITAID STATEMENT ON NEW MSF REPORT - Efforts to Combat AIDS Need to Be Strengthened, not Diminished

[UNITAID Medicines Patent Pool Initiative]

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UNITAID STATEMENT ON NEW MSF REPORT

Efforts to Combat AIDS Need to Be Strengthened, not Diminished

UNITAID welcomes and fully supports the new M=E9decins sans Fronti=E8res (M=
SF)
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 livin=
g
with HIV/AIDS.

Ten years of global efforts and dedicated funding have put over four millio=
n
people on HIV/AIDS treatment in developing countries. In the process,
millions of others have benefited from better equipped health facilities an=
d
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 effectiv=
e
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.

=93The MSF report shows that targeting HIV/AIDS has achieved real results,
including benefits for other health priorities such as child and maternal
health,=94 added Jorge Bermudez.  =93Not only do we need to keep up the mom=
entum
on AIDS, we need to create the same momentum for other health priorities.=
=94



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