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6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
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What is it? |
AIDS has become the leading cause of early death in sub-Saharan Africa and the fourth largest killer worldwide. In the European countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and parts of Asia, HIV is spreading at an alarming rate. Though new drug treatments prolong life, there is no cure for AIDS, and prevention efforts must be intensified in every region of the world if the target is to be reached.
Malaria and tuberculosis together kill nearly as many people each year as AIDS, and represent a severe drain on national economies. Ninety per cent of malaria deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, where prevention and treatment efforts are being scaled up. Tuberculosis is on the rise, partly because of HIV/AIDS; however, new international protocol to detect and treat the disease is showing promise. |
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What are the targets? |
Stop and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
Stop and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases |
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Facts and Stats |
More than 42 million people are living with the virus
Worldwide, the AIDS epidemic killed 3 million people last year alone
Approximately 37.2 million of those infected are adults 15 years and older, and approximately 17.6 million are women |
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Progress so far |
The number of people living with HIV/AIDS has increased and the disease continues to spread in the majority of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and is spreading rapidly in Eastern Europe and Southern Asia.
There is no evidence that malaria is diminishing world wide and tuberculosis has increased in Sub-Saharan Africa, but rates of infection in other regions have decreased only slightly. |
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Canada’s Contribution |
Fighting HIV/AIDS is one of Canada’s top priorities and spending on HIV/AIDS totaled $532million between 2000 and 2005.
Canada is currently the lead donor to the World Health Organization’s “3by5” Initiative, having committed $100million to facilitate access to anti-retroviral drugs for three million HIV/AIDS patients by the end of 2005. |
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Participating NGOs |
Canadian Aids Treatment Information Exchange (CATIE)
Keep a Child Alive (KCA) |
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How you can take action |
Sign a petition to remind government leaders of their commitment to HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
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Links |
www.unaids.org
www.unfpa.org/aids_clock/
www.who.int/en
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/id-mi/index.html#hivaids
http://www.keepachildalive.org/ |
