Joint Note for the Media WHO/UNAIDS

Governments review international response to AIDS at United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting 10-11 June 2008

The close of 2007 marks an important step in the history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Nearly 3 million people are now receiving anti-retroviral therapy (ART) in low- and middle-income countries, according to a new report launched today by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

UN General Assembly Convenes High-Level Meeting on AIDS - Governments to review progress on access to HIV treatment and prevention

It is with profound sadness that UNAIDS mourns the death of AIDS activist Wellington Solomon Adderly who was killed at his home in Nassau, Bahamas earlier this week. Mr Adderly was one of the leading figures in the response to HIV in the Bahamas having served for many years as President of the Bahamas National Network of Positive Living. He was also a prominent member of the Bahamas Resource Committee and Administrator of the Bahamas AIDS Foundation.

Since the beginning of the HIV epidemic, governments have prevented people living with HIV from entering or residing in their countries based solely on their HIV status. Such restrictions have stopped HIV positive people from travelling for business, family visits, or tourism; and from entering a country for study, labour migration, and political asylum.

Starting tomorrow, the second Eastern Europe and Central Asia AIDS Conference (EECAAC II), the largest AIDS-focused event to date in the region, will bring together a wide range of private and public groups at a critical time in the fight against AIDS.

The governing body of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) met in Chiang Mai from 23-25 April for the 22nd Meeting of the Programme Coordinating Board (PCB).

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS praises U.S. House of Representatives passage of the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde U.S. Global Leadership on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008.

Countries need to craft a new response – calls the Independent Commission on AIDS in Asia New York—Even after two decades, AIDS remains the most likely cause of death and work days lost among 15-44 years-olds in Asia warns the independent Commission on AIDS in Asia.These findings were released today in a report entitled “Redefining AIDS in Asia – Crafting an effective response” by an independent Commission, consisting of nine members across Asia and led by Dr C. Rangarajan, Chief Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister of India.