What is UNAIDS?

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS, is the main advocate for global action on the epidemic. It leads, strengthens and supports an expanded response aimed at preventing transmission of HIV, providing care and support, reducing the vulnerability of individuals and communities to HIV/AIDS, and alleviating the impact of the epidemic.

UNAIDS: A joint response to HIV/AIDS

How UNAIDS supports a more effective global response to AIDS:

• Leadership and advocacy for effective action on the epidemic.
• Strategic information to guide efforts against AIDS worldwide.
• Tracking, monitoring and evaluation of the epidemic and of responses to it.
• Civil society engagement and partnership development.
• Mobilization of resources to support an effective response.

HIV/AIDS: A unique global threat

Since AIDS was first described in 1981, well over 20 million lives have been lost, and tens of millions more people—increasingly women and young people—are now living with HIV. Most face the prospect of sickness, destitution and premature death. In the developing world, where 95% of people with HIV live, only 7% of those who needed life-saving treatment could obtain it in 2003—a stark contrast to the developed world, where such treatment has become standard health practice.

In the hardest-hit countries, AIDS is dramatically reducing life expectancy and economic potential, increasing the vulnerability of future generations by creating millions of orphans, and diminishing the capacity of public and private sectors. In some parts of Africa, AIDS has signifi cantly exacerbated the already severe problems of food security.

HIV infection rates continue to climb in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and the virus is also spreading in some of the world’s most populous countries, including China, India, Indonesia and Russia. Worldwide, experts believe that the rate of new HIV infections could escalate by 25% or more by 2005. At the same time, the success of prevention programmes has been documented on every continent, and projects in diverse regions have demonstrated the feasibility of providing effective care and treatment to people living with HIV in developing countries.

Although the challenges posed by HIV are daunting, powerful tools are at our disposal to prevent new infections, deliver effective treatments, and ease the harsh impacts of the epidemic. Yet the epidemic—together with its associated mortality rates and societal effects—is expanding much faster than the rate at which programmes are being implemented. To meet these challenges, the worldwide response must outpace the epidemic itself.

www.unaids.org