U.N. Reports Battle Against HIV/AIDS Bearing Fruit

World AIDS Day is just around the corner on Dec. 1 and the United Nations is continuing with its theme of 'Getting to Zero' started in 2011. The UN states that notable progress has been observed in curbing HIV/AIDS in a majority of countries. But there were still some regions like the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe, where the disease is yet not under control.

The number of HIV cases has almost doubled in North Africa and the Middle East and a rise of 13 percent was observed in the spread of the disease since 2006 in Central Asia and Eastern Europe, according to UNAIDS.

This deadly infection is found to be more common among homosexual men, sex workers, transgenders and drug addicts. Lack of access to HIV treatments is blamed for the rise in the number of cases.  

"Every person counts," said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS (United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS).

The U.N. aims at increasing the availability and access to antiretroviral therapy for these infection-prone people.

"Ten countries in which HIV prevalence among people who inject drugs exceeds 10 per cent allocate less than 5 per cent of HIV spending to harm-reduction programmes. Despite sex workers' disproportionate risk of acquiring HIV, prevention programmes for them account for a meagre share of HIV prevention funding globally," the news release stated.

The U.N. is utilizing its funds to help the most HIV-affected populations by providing them good treatment with the aim of not leaving anybody infected.

"If we are going to keep our pledge of leaving no one behind-we have to make sure HIV services reach everyone in need," Sidibé said.

With the hard efforts put in by the UN, a 52 percent decrease has been observed in the number of new infections among children since 2001, which dropped down to 260,000.

When it comes to the reception of antiretroviral therapy, a 14 percent increase in children receiving the treatment was seen in 2012 but the organization aims at introducing better child-friendly medicines and apparatus for their treatment.

"We have seen tremendous political commitment and results to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV-but we are failing the children who become infected," added Sidibé. "We urgently need better diagnostic tools and child-friendly medicines-irrespective of the market size."

 About 21 percent rise in the reception of the therapy was noted in around 9.7 million adults from developing countries. The organization also succeeded in cutting down the number of deaths in TB patients infected with HIV by 36 percent since 2004.

The main goal for the organization remains to make the antiretroviral treatment available to one and all, stopping the spread of the infection and ultimately eradicating it.