ACT V Notes New UNAIDS Global Report Sets Stage for Release of U.S. Government's "Blueprint for an AIDS-Free Generation"

Documented successes and opportunities justify need for a global roadmap, investments and targets for AIDS endgame.

NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- UNAIDS' World AIDS Day report—Results—shows an accelerated response to AIDS producing results. It sets the stage for the release of the U.S. Government's "Blueprint for an AIDS-Free Generation" expected on or before December 1, 2012.

Recent scientific proof indicates that it is possible to begin to end the AIDS pandemic. World leaders agree. On Dec. 1, 2011, President Barack Obama pledged to put another 2 million people with HIV/AIDS on antiretroviral therapy under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Increasing the number of people on treatment simultaneously spares lives and protects public health as it reduces—by 96%—the chance the virus can spread. The president's scale up is underway.

In July of 2011 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called on the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, led by Dr. Eric Goosby, to release a "Blueprint for an AIDS-Free Generation." The blueprint is expected later next week.

"The UNAIDS' global report supports that the end of AIDS is indeed possible but only with smart strategies, upfront investments and specific targets. We must aggressively accelerate our response if we are to seize the opportunity before us to begin the endgame," said Dr. Paul Zeitz, Vice President of Policy for ACT V. "In areas where scale-up of prevention and treatment has been achieved, we see corresponding declines in rates of new infections and AIDS-related deaths. Conversely, in areas where resources are less available, HIV continues to ravage the population. Twenty-five heavily affected countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia have seen a 50% or greater drop in new HIV infections since 2001. This is proof AIDS can be overcome. However, rising rates of new infections in places like the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia are proof that unless we distribute treatment faster and more pervasively, we won't achieve an AIDS-free generation."

"The UNAIDS data paints a picture of what happens in a world of inequitable distribution of resources," said Leigh Blake, President of ACT V. "The fact that we have the tools and knowledge to begin to end AIDS highlights the moral imperative to do so. We applaud the United States government's leadership and generosity in the global AIDS fight, as well as the leadership and generosity of many nations who contribute to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the World Bank as well as to their own bilateral AIDS programs. We look forward to the release of the 'Blueprint for an AIDS-Free Generation' and are hopeful it will provide an insightful roadmap for achieving the end of AIDS and that it will inspire other nations to step up their commitments."

The UNAIDS Results report can be read here:
www.unaids.org/en/resources/campaigns/20121120_Globalreport2012/index.html

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SOURCE Act V: The End of AIDS