TIGblogs TIG | TIGblogs GROUP TIGBLOGS LOGIN SIGNUP
The Power of the Rising Development Generation Africa
The Power of the Rising Development Generation Africa


New HIV/Aids Infections Still Rising
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

A new World Bank report launched today says African countries must continue to champion HIV prevention efforts to slow and reverse the rate of new HIV infections, and that HIV/AIDS will remain for the foreseeable future an unprecedented economic, social, and human challenge to sub-Saharan Africa. The region remains the global epicenter of the disease.

According to the new report-The World Bank's Commitment to HIV/AIDS in Africa: Our Agenda for Action, 2007-2011-for every infected African starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) for the first time, another four to six become newly infected, even as regional figures show falling prevalence in countries such as Kenya, and parts of Botswana, Côte d'Ivoire, Malawi, and Zimbabwe. About 22.5 million Africans are HIV positive, and AIDS is the leading cause of premature death on the continent, especially among productive young people and women. As a result, some private firms in Southern Africa recruit two workers for every job in anticipation of losing staff to the disease.
In laying out its continuing plans to help African countries fight the epidemic, the Bank's new strategy says that more than 60 percent of people living with HIV in Africa are women, and that young women are six times more likely to be HIV positive than are young men. As a result of the epidemic, an estimated 11.4 million children under age 18 have lost at least one parent.

"With AIDS the largest single cause of premature death in Africa, we can't talk about better, lasting development there without also committing to stay the course in the long-term fight against the disease," says Elizabeth Lule, Manager of the World Bank's AIDS Team for Africa (ACTafrica), whose team consulted widely with African countries, people living with HIV, sister UN agencies, NGOs, private companies and others in devising its new HIV/AIDS strategy for Africa.
The World Bank has mobilized more than $1.5 billion to more than 30 countries in sub-Saharan Africa to combat the epidemic since 2000.

Next Steps Through 2011

With its African HIV/AIDS 'Agenda for Action', the Bank says it is moving away from its initial 'emergency response' role as the world's principal financier of HIV/AIDS programs, towards a new mission with four new strategic objectives.

These include: at the global level, advising countries on how best to manage the complexity of the international financing they receive; and at the local level, helping countries to accelerate implementation and take a long-term sustainable development response to HIV/AIDS; strengthening the monitoring and evaluation capacity of countries to track the efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of their HIV/AIDS response; and building up stronger health and fiduciary systems.
Amalgamating HIV/AIDS services with those for reproductive and maternal health, nutrition, and other diseases such as malaria and TB, would remedy a long-standing defect in many national HIV/AIDS programs to date. The 'feminization' of the epidemic and its links to sexual and reproductive health, and the frequency of co-infection with TB (and the emerging Extensively Drug Resistant TB) and other opportunistic diseases, amplify the importance of providing people with integrated health services.

Specifically, the Bank would commit to: provide at least $250 million a year for HIV/AIDS initiatives, based on country demand and establish a grant incentive fund of $5 million annually to promote capacity building, analysis, and HIV/AIDS project components in key sectors such as health, education, transport, public sector management and other sectoral projects.

"After 25 years, it is time to apply the lessons of experience and scale up what is working. With this Agenda for Action, the World Bank reaffirms its long-term commitment to assist partner countries achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by integrating AIDS into their national development agendas, scaling up responses, and strengthening national systems," says Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

The World Bank is one of ten co-sponsors of UNAIDS, along with International Labor Organization (ILO), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization. The Agenda for Action will be implemented in the context of this partnership.

May 16, 2008 | 5:10 AM Comments  0 comments

Tags:
You must be logged in to add tags.


Henry Ekwuruke's Profile

Henry Ekwuruke's Friends


Latest Posts
Kids learn media,...
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
New HIV/Aids...

Monthly Archive
March 2004
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008

Change Language


Tags Archive
abiastate africa cherrieland communitydevelopmentnetwork generationafricaprogram life nigerdelta nigeria umuahia voicesfromthevillage

Filter By Type
Events
News
Travel
Topics

Friends
ABAYOMI AYOOLA EMMANUEL
Arundhaty Parida
ATTA UR REHMAN QUREASHI
Ayodeji Thomas Adewunmi
Brian
bridgett
C. Gudz
Carlos
Comdr. Little
Drbadr
Esther Agbarakwe
Eugenia Bivines
Francis
Franziska Seel
Frederick Bernas
Gerald Derome
hj
Hugh Switzer
Jamleck Chomba
Jason Haber
Jennifer Corriero
Josephine Simmons
joyce
Katherine
LauraK
LLOYDLUNA.com
Odo Phil Nkeiru
ody
onyinye
Ricardo Baruch
Sebastian St.Troy
seriousspy
Sessi
Shiyana Hunter
Sivakumar Rajendran
The Editor
yandagi

Links
UNICEF
Youth at UN


236349 views
Important Disclaimer