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UN Official Warns Dublin Meeting of AIDS Threat
The annual world death rate from AIDS would wipe out the population of Ireland in a year and a half, a senior UN official warned today.
Dr Peter Piot, the director of UNAIDS, the UN?s AIDS programme, said the spread of AIDS had led to an unprecedented crisis in human history.
?Last year, three million people died from AIDS. That would mean that in one and a half years, the population of Ireland would disappear,? he said.
The 55-year-old Belgian scientist, who was speaking after the World Food Program?s global meeting in Dublin today, described the spread of AIDS as a threat to the entire world.
?If an entire continent is destabilised, then that will affect us all. It?s not just a matter of solidarity with those who have less than we have but also a matter of enlightened self-interest. It is about migration, markets and the stability of the world,? he said.
There are 40 million people living with AIDS, mainly in Africa, and the virus has created 14 million orphans.
In some countries such as Swaziland, where the infection rate is 40%, more than 20% of children have lost both their parents.
Dr Piet said that even though the West had sat back and watched while AIDS devastated Africa, there was now a greater awareness of the threat.
UNAIDS is guiding the anti-AIDS work of nine international bodies including the United Nations Children?s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Program and the World Bank.
Dr Piot said U2?s lead singer Bono had been a great advocate in the fight against AIDS.
?Through his voice, not only with the public at large, but also through his access to world leaders, he has given an enormous push to awareness about AIDS,? he said.
?He?s done a great job.?
Through the World Food Programme, UNAIDS is providing food to 21 of the 25 countries with the highest HIV/AIDS infection rates.
Dr Piot said food was the first thing he had been asked for when he met a group of HIV/AIDS infected women living in Malawi.
With anti-retroviral drugs only available to 5% of infected people, the provision of good quality food helps them to live longer and to keep their children at school rather than working at home.
Dr Piot praised the Government for organising an EU conference in February on HIV/AIDS infection in Eastern Europe, which he said was a major worry.
?The message to governments there is ?act now, don?t wait?. The EU needs to take this on in a bigger way because the longer you wait, the more expensive it becomes to control AIDS.?
He said he was optimistic that the AIDS epidemic could be controlled.
?The secret is strong leadership from the president, the church and the community. In Uganda, the infection rate was 30% in the 1990s but only 6% now.?
UNAIDS is also encouraging the development of chemical barriers against AIDS for women, who often cannot ask their HIV positive husbands to abstain from sex or use a condom.
Dr Piot said it should be scientifically possible to develop a chemical gel, known as a microbicide, that could be placed in women?s vaginas.
-- Ireland On-Line
The annual world death rate from AIDS would wipe out the population of Ireland in a year and a half, a senior UN official warned today.
Dr Peter Piot, the director of UNAIDS, the UN?s AIDS programme, said the spread of AIDS had led to an unprecedented crisis in human history.
?Last year, three million people died from AIDS. That would mean that in one and a half years, the population of Ireland would disappear,? he said.
The 55-year-old Belgian scientist, who was speaking after the World Food Program?s global meeting in Dublin today, described the spread of AIDS as a threat to the entire world.
?If an entire continent is destabilised, then that will affect us all. It?s not just a matter of solidarity with those who have less than we have but also a matter of enlightened self-interest. It is about migration, markets and the stability of the world,? he said.
There are 40 million people living with AIDS, mainly in Africa, and the virus has created 14 million orphans.
In some countries such as Swaziland, where the infection rate is 40%, more than 20% of children have lost both their parents.
Dr Piet said that even though the West had sat back and watched while AIDS devastated Africa, there was now a greater awareness of the threat.
UNAIDS is guiding the anti-AIDS work of nine international bodies including the United Nations Children?s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Program and the World Bank.
Dr Piot said U2?s lead singer Bono had been a great advocate in the fight against AIDS.
?Through his voice, not only with the public at large, but also through his access to world leaders, he has given an enormous push to awareness about AIDS,? he said.
?He?s done a great job.?
Through the World Food Programme, UNAIDS is providing food to 21 of the 25 countries with the highest HIV/AIDS infection rates.
Dr Piot said food was the first thing he had been asked for when he met a group of HIV/AIDS infected women living in Malawi.
With anti-retroviral drugs only available to 5% of infected people, the provision of good quality food helps them to live longer and to keep their children at school rather than working at home.
Dr Piot praised the Government for organising an EU conference in February on HIV/AIDS infection in Eastern Europe, which he said was a major worry.
?The message to governments there is ?act now, don?t wait?. The EU needs to take this on in a bigger way because the longer you wait, the more expensive it becomes to control AIDS.?
He said he was optimistic that the AIDS epidemic could be controlled.
?The secret is strong leadership from the president, the church and the community. In Uganda, the infection rate was 30% in the 1990s but only 6% now.?
UNAIDS is also encouraging the development of chemical barriers against AIDS for women, who often cannot ask their HIV positive husbands to abstain from sex or use a condom.
Dr Piot said it should be scientifically possible to develop a chemical gel, known as a microbicide, that could be placed in women?s vaginas.
-- Ireland On-Line
