The United Nations has set a goal of universal access to HIV care and treatment by the year 2015.* According to the U.N. Secretary-General’s 2011 Report on AIDS, this goal is part of a broader strategy that includes ending discrimination against people with HIV, empowering women to avoid the virus, and eventually reaching a goal of zero new infections. The report indicates that the rate of new cases dropped 19 percent between the years 2000 and 2009. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has urged the world’s governments to provide more HIV/AIDS funding. Despite rising drug costs, funding has been stuck at $16 billion per year since 2007.

*This article has been updated to reflect the following correction: The United Nation’s goal is to provide universal access to HIV and care and treatment by 2015. Original reports stated the goal was zero new HIV cases and AIDS-related deaths by the year 2015.

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To read the corrected Housing Works article, click here.

To read the full press release from the United Nations, click here