Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International - December 1, 2006
The United Nations marked World Aids Day Friday by urging governments to make good on their commitments to fight the pandemic.
"Because the response has started to gain real momentum, the stakes are higher now than ever," Annan said Thursday evening at an inter-faith event at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in New York on the eve of World AIDS Day.
The U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS estimates 39.5 million people around the world live with HIV and another 4.3 million will be infected this year, with nearly two out of every three new infections occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. Significant increases in rates of infection have also been reported in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
At least 25 million have now died from AIDS-related diseases in the 25 years since the first case was reported, and this year alone almost 3 million people will die.
Annan urged governments to strengthen protection for all of the most vulnerable groups, including young people, sex workers, injecting drug users and homosexuals.
He said accountability applies not only to world leaders, but to "all of us," from business leaders who can campaign for AIDS prevention in the workplace to health workers and faith-based groups who can listen and provide care to sufferers without passing judgment.
"It requires fathers, husbands, sons and brothers to support and affirm the rights of women. It requires teachers to nurture the dreams and aspirations of girls. It requires men to help ensure that other men assume their responsibility -- and understand that real manhood means protecting others from risk," he said.
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