UNITED NATIONS, June 10 (AP): World leaders launched a global plan with the goal of ensuring that every baby is born HIV-free by 2015 — and that their HIV mothers live to raise them. The U.N. says nearly every minute a baby is born with the HIV virus. In 2009, that meant 370,000 children were infected with HIV, almost all in low- and middle-income countries, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa.
At the U.N.’s high-level meeting on AIDS, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined other leaders to launch the roadmap to achieve the goal of eliminating mother to child transmission of HIV in the next four years. “We believe that by 2015 children everywhere can be born free of HIV and that their mothers can remain healthy,” said Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, the U.N. agency fighting the disease. “This new global plan is realistic, it is achievable and it is driven by the most affected countries.”
U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric Goosby called preventing new HIV infections in children a “smart investment.” “Working together, we can reverse this tide as we have done in the United States and they are very close to doing in Botswana,” he said.
The plan — “Countdown to Zero” — was developed by team led by UNAIDS and the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which Goosby heads. The team included representatives from more than 30 countries and 50 organizations. The plan includes ensuring that all pregnant women have access to quality lifesaving HIV prevention and treatment services for themselves and their children and that there are adequate financial resources and trained health staff to meet the goal.
In 2009, the U.N. said an estimated 42,000-60,000 pregnant women died because of HIV almost all of them in developing countries. In high-income countries the number of new HIV infections was virtually zero and the number of child and maternal deaths due to HIV was also almost zero. Ban said the developed world has shown that “there is every reason to believe that we can save millions of lives across the developing world.”
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton told the crowd of several hundred leaders, diplomats, AIDS activists and people living with HIV that “just 22 countries account for 90 percent of pediatric infections.” He called for lower drug prices and strong political leadership to ensure that everyone works together to meet the goal.
The launch of the Global Plan, as it is known, sparked a number of new contributions: an additional $75 million from the U.S. on top of the approximately $300 million it already provides annually, $40 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, $20 million from Chevron and $15 million from Johnson & Johnson.
At the U.N.’s high-level meeting on AIDS, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined other leaders to launch the roadmap to achieve the goal of eliminating mother to child transmission of HIV in the next four years. “We believe that by 2015 children everywhere can be born free of HIV and that their mothers can remain healthy,” said Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, the U.N. agency fighting the disease. “This new global plan is realistic, it is achievable and it is driven by the most affected countries.”
U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric Goosby called preventing new HIV infections in children a “smart investment.” “Working together, we can reverse this tide as we have done in the United States and they are very close to doing in Botswana,” he said.
The plan — “Countdown to Zero” — was developed by team led by UNAIDS and the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which Goosby heads. The team included representatives from more than 30 countries and 50 organizations. The plan includes ensuring that all pregnant women have access to quality lifesaving HIV prevention and treatment services for themselves and their children and that there are adequate financial resources and trained health staff to meet the goal.
In 2009, the U.N. said an estimated 42,000-60,000 pregnant women died because of HIV almost all of them in developing countries. In high-income countries the number of new HIV infections was virtually zero and the number of child and maternal deaths due to HIV was also almost zero. Ban said the developed world has shown that “there is every reason to believe that we can save millions of lives across the developing world.”
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton told the crowd of several hundred leaders, diplomats, AIDS activists and people living with HIV that “just 22 countries account for 90 percent of pediatric infections.” He called for lower drug prices and strong political leadership to ensure that everyone works together to meet the goal.
The launch of the Global Plan, as it is known, sparked a number of new contributions: an additional $75 million from the U.S. on top of the approximately $300 million it already provides annually, $40 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, $20 million from Chevron and $15 million from Johnson & Johnson.
