Title: In the new year, a new beginning to end HIV / AIDS.

POPLINE Document Number: 276721

Author(s):

Hwang AC
Shields WC
Stewart FH

Source citation:

Contraception, 2004;70:435-436.

Abstract:

Few of us can grasp the scope of the AIDS pandemic. Since the first diagnosis in 1981, over 20 million people have died from this disease. Almost 38 million people worldwide, more than the entire population of California, the most populous state in the United States, are infected with HIV, according to estimates by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). In Botswana and Swaziland, one in three adults is infected. In seven sub- Saharan countries, life expectancy has fallen to just 49 years. Even though the force and devastation of HIV/AIDS have long been recognized, the global response to the disease and its devastation remains sluggish and inadequate. From the beginning of the epidemic, the U.S. government response has been late, half-hearted, and far too small for the scope of the disease. In recent years, efforts to address the disease have been further compromised by unfulfilled promises of funding and misguided policies and ideologies that undercut program effectiveness. (excerpt)

Keywords:

United States
Critique
Recommendations
Evaluation
HIV Positive Persons
Policymakers
HIV Prevention
International Cooperation
Foreign Aid
Health Policy
Antiretroviral Drugs
AIDS Prevention
Developed Countries
North America
Americas
HIV Infections
Viral Diseases
Diseases
Administrative Personnel
Organization and Administration
Financial Activities
Economic Factors
Policy
Treatment
AIDS