The United Nations said yesterday that funding to fight the global AIDS epidemic must be quadrupled to 42 billion dollars over the next three years, claiming that this year’s expected budget—$10 billion—will not be sufficient in providing “universal care” to all people living with the virus by 2010.
UNAIDS, the UN’s AIDS agency, released a report yesterday at a meeting Berlin aimed at collecting funding pledges from world leaders. The report warns that inaction will only fuel the epidemic, which will cost more money and lives in the years to come.
“The high levels of funding that will be needed to move toward universal access in the coming years reflect the world’s failure to respond to the epidemic before it achieved crisis proportions,” the report says.
The $42 billion would provide antiretroviral drugs to about 4.6 million people living with HIV.
Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
Woman of the Month is supported by exclusive advertising from Gilead.
Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
