Minister Haufiku commended the new World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations on providing treatment to anyone who tests HIV positive regardless of their CD4 count and using treatment as prevention to vulnerable populations as a positive development in ending HIV infections.
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For World AIDS Day this year, the theme is The Time to Act is Now. New HIV infections have been reduced by 35% since 2000 and AIDS-related deaths have been reduced by 42% since the peak in 2004. In the United States over 1.2 million people are living with HIV and over 650,000 have died.
Another Democratic hopeful, Martin O’Malley, said working to stem AIDS across the globe will “demonstrate the generosity and compassion of the American people”.
The National AIDS Trust (NAT) is challenging people to rethink negative stereotypes, forget old traditions and be positive about HIV. Today’s announcement coincides with World AIDS Day.
Marking World AIDS Day, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday called for a fast-track approach to break the epidemic and prevent it from rebounding.
Obama states that HIV still affects specific populations disproportionately across the US including gay and bisexual men, Black women and men, Latinos and Latinas, people who inject drugs, transgender women, young people, and people in the Southern US.
HIV has killed an estimated 39 million people to date and is at epidemic levels globally, CNN has reported.
The figures also showed that among the HIV/AIDS cases recorded this year, the largest age group of the infected was the 25-34 age bracket (42 percent), followed by the 15-24 age bracket (28 percent).
World AIDS Day is just as much about recognizing the need for this disease to be eradicated as it is about providing support to those already affected by HIV/AIDS.
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The Georgia Department of Public Health also wants to make sure that everyone knows that testing is available year-round at every public health clinic and that care and medication is available for those who need it.
