BMJ  2008;336:1206 (31 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.a160

Letters

Writing on the wall for UNAIDS

UNAIDS replies

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

England couldn’t be more wrong that the AIDS epidemic is just another health problem.¹

Over 60 million men, women, and children have become infected with HIV since it was first discovered. AIDS has killed 25 million people, and the epidemic continues to outstrip the response.

HIV was and still is an emergency requiring an unprecedented response. AIDS does not fit neatly into a health box but cuts across sectors such as education, labour, and the legal system. It involves particularly sensitive issues—sex, gender inequality, sex work, homosexuality, drug use, stigma, and discrimination. UNAIDS was created precisely to deal with the multisectoral nature of the epidemic.

Resources for public health are desperately deficient, and this is no different for HIV. In 2006, $644 billion was estimated to be available for all public health in low and middle income countries, of which a mere 1.4% was spent on HIV.

Funding for HIV . . . [Full text of this article]

¹ Evidence, Monitoring and Policy Department, UNAIDS, 20 Avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland

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