Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia, Inc. - 1 Dec 1995
"In the past year, the World Health Organization estimates that over two million men, women and children became infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. And close to three-quarters of a million people who were infected years ago died an untimely death," Dr Peter Piot, a Belgian physician, told an AIDS Day symposium at U.N. headquarters.
The epidemic had so far claimed more than four million people in what should have been their prime of life, he said.
"In the United States and Western Europe, AIDS continued to be the leading cause of death for people under 45 -- a bigger killer than violent crime, which gets far more media attention," he said.
Piot, executive director of UNAIDS, which coordinates the efforts of a number of U.N. agencies, said experience showed that ways had been found to care for people with HIV and help uninfected people remain free of the virus. "But overall, we are not using these approaches well or enough. HIV continues to spread at the rate of over 6,000 infections a day -- above all in the developing world."
Referring to factors that created vulnerability, he said more progress was needed in achieving equal rights for women in the legal, economic and educational spheres. "Otherwise they may not be in a position to leave or negotiate safer sex with a partner who is putting them at risk of HIV," he said.
"We need to help economically disadvantaged people, otherwise they may be unable to afford protective materials like condoms or health care for their AIDS-related illnesses."
Another important factor was human rights, Piot said, noting that people who feared loss of homes or jobs for having AIDS might hesitate to get tested, seek care or acknowledge their infection to their partners.
"Human rights are intrinsically important, but protecting those rights is also a powerful tool for preventing new HIV infections and ensuring that infected people and their families get appropriate care and support," Piot said.
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