A recently
released international report on People Living with HIV and AIDS has revealed
that the number of people accessing treatment has surpassed the 2015 global
target.
The Global AIDS update 2016 states released in Nairobi reveals
that an
estimated 17 million people were accessing life-saving antiretroviral medicines
at the end of 2015 with an additional 2 million people gaining access over a
12-month period.
The 15
million target was set up by the United Nations General Assembly in 2011.
The latest UNAIDS data covering 160 countries
explains that since the
first global treatment target was set in 2003, annual AIDS-related deaths have
decreased by 43%.
‘The full potential of antiretroviral therapy is
being realized. I urge all countries to seize this unprecedented opportunity to
put HIV prevention and treatment programmes on the Fast-Track and end the AIDS
epidemic by 2030,’ said Michel Sidibé,
Executive Director of UNAIDS.
Nduku Kilonzo the Executive Director National AIDS
Control Council NACC agrees with Sidibé despite the progress made in Kenya,’ We
are wiping the floor but the tap is still running. We must invest in
prevention. The world must have a target for prevention and allocate dedicated
resources to prevention.’
Cabinet Secretary for Health Cleopa Mailu has called
for continued collaboration with NACC, UNAIDS amongst other stakeholders in an
effort to reduce prevalence.
‘We must catalyze
investments across different sectors, with a focus on cost-effective and
socially inclusive programmes if we are to succeed. The Kenyan
government has attached importance to HIV and AIDS and has treated it as a
strategic issue for social stability and economic prosperity,’ he continued.
This comes as world leaders prepare to gather for
the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS, to take
place in New York, United States of America, from 8 to 10 June 2016.
No comments:
Post a Comment