Paris
28 November 2008
A new report by UNAIDS urges countries to adopt flexible policies that
reflect how and why the latest HIV infections are transmitted. The
report coincides with the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day. For VOA,
Lisa Bryant has more from Paris.
The overall story of HIV/AIDS
is not as bleak as its numbers suggest. While an estimated 33 million
people worldwide live with the HIV virus that causes AIDS, the numbers
of new infections have been declining since 2001 and more HIV-infected
people are getting treatment and living longer.
But a study
published Friday by UNAIDS suggests countries have much more to do to
fight the epidemic - in large part by adopting combined and flexible
HIV/AIDS-prevention policies - particularly since the pattern of the
epidemic may change over time. Some countries are also not targeting
the most vulnerable populations in fighting the virus - such as
intravenous drug users and men having sex with men.
"The message is that
countries need to tailor their prevention programs to the epidemics in
their own specific countries," said Karen
Stanecki, a senior advisor for UNAIDS in Geneva. "And they need to know where
the new infections are occurring in order to do that. And we recommend
a combination-prevention process of doing this where one prevention
program isn't going to do it all."
Stanecki says that message has registered in some countries. Namibia is a case in point.
"They
have put various strategies into place and they are now seeing
reductions in new infections among young people," she said. "Young
people are delaying sexual activity . They're reducing the numbers of
multiple partners and we've seen increase use in condoms."
The
global financial crisis may pose a new threat for cash-strapped
countries. But experts warn that cutting corners when it comes to
fighting HIV/AIDS will leave the world in worse shape in a few years
time than it is now.