AEGiS-WSJ: Head of Fund to Fight AIDS Calls for Long-Term Plan

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Head of Fund to Fight AIDS Calls for Long-Term Plan

Wall Street Journal - January 25, 2007

After years of fighting HIV/AIDS, the time has come to develop a long-term strategy for tackling the pandemic, the head of the global fund set up to fight the disease said.

"As we get the fire engine to the scene and begin to put out the blaze, which I think is what is happening, our attention now must begin to focus on the long term," said Richard Feachem, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

He spoke as experts from international organizations and drug companies met via satellite during the World Economic Forum to discuss how the pandemic will develop by 2025.

Despite advances in getting lifesaving drugs to some of the world's poorest countries, for every person put on medication, 10 more are newly infected. A coherent prevention strategy is critical, Mr. Feachem said, and decisions have to be made on the role of vaginal microbicides and male circumcision, as well as the potential of any future vaccine.

The AIDS virus infects around 40 million people globally; it killed an estimated 2.9 million in 2006, according to UNAIDS, the United Nations program on HIV/AIDS.

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