Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia - Thursday November 6, 2003
The World Health Organization is spearheading a campaign aimed at bringing treatment to three of the six million within two years. The drive, dubbed "Three by Five," or "3 million by 2005," is to be launched in Nairobi on Dec. 1.
At present, only five percent -- or some 300,000 sufferers -- had access to the antiretroviral drugs that prolong life and control the disease, Paulo Roberto Teixeira, head of the WHO's anti-AIDS program, told a news conference.
"We are already late. We cannot go on waiting for social and economic change in developing countries to tackle this problem," said Teixeira, hailed as the mastermind of Brazil's campaign against HIV and AIDS.
Over 20 million people have died of AIDS over the past two decades and at least 42 million more are infected with the HIV virus that causes it, according to WHO figures.
The program will include providing emergency response teams and helping poor countries obtain quality drugs at the best prices. It will target sufferers in the later stages of HIV when treatment can slow progress of the disease.
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