Estimated worldwide infections: 57 871 613 at 11.50am on June 23 2004.
Zimbabwe’s first HIV/Aids conference ended last Friday with delegates recommending more coordination among groups fighting the disease, intensified prevention efforts and increased access to antiretroviral drugs. Attendees also discussed discrimination against HIV-positive people.
The conference, titled Taking Stock: Looking into the Future, examined Zimbabwe’s progress in treating and preventing HIV/Aids. Earlier this year the Zimbabwean government announced a pilot project to distribute anti-retroviral drugs at no cost to patients in select government hospitals. About 70% of patients in Zimbabwe’s hospitals are HIV-positive.
Blessing Chebundo, the shadow health minister in the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change, ‘lamented” that the conference did not assign specific roles for organisations or establish a timeline for actions.
Some Aids advocates claimed they were ‘sidelined” from the conference. The group People Living with Aids alleged that the National Aids Council and the Ministry of Health ignored their concerns while providing medical specialists and dignitaries time to present their views.
Source: kaisernetwork.org