Armenia, Belarus, Cuba, and Thailand managed to eliminate the mother-to-child transmission of HIV, UN Secretary general Ban Ki-moon said at a United Nations General Assembly High-level Meeting on Ending AIDS. A ceremony were held in New York City, when elimination validation certificates were presented to the ministers of health of the three European countries, who were attending the United Nations General Assembly High-level Meeting on Ending AIDS.
In his opening remarks, Ban Ki-Moon said the HIV-infections among children have halved during the last 15 years and expressed hope that the mother-to-child transmission of HIV will be eliminated in the world soon.
"In many low-income countries, treatment was scarce. In 2007, only 3 million people - one third of those in need - had access to life saving antiretroviral drugs.
We have made enormous progress. Since 2000 the global total of people receiving antiretroviral treatment doubled every three to four years, thanks to cheaper drugs, increased competition and new funding. Today, more than 17 million people are being treated, saving millions of lives and billions of dollars. The world achieved Millennium Development Goal 6. We have halted and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS. New HIV infections have declined by 35 percent since 2000. AIDS-related deaths have gone down by 43 per cent since 2003.
I am particularly happy that new HIV infections among children are down by 56 percent in the past fifteen years. Four countries have eliminated them completely: Cuba, Thailand, Armenia and Belarus. I hope we will reach zero new infections among children soon," he said. In his words, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development affirms the global commitment to ending the epidemic within 15 years. "Action now could avert an estimated 17.6 million new infections and 11 million premature deaths between 2016 and 2030.
But we must make a radical change within the next five years, if we are to achieve that goal. That requires commitment at every level: from the global health infrastructure, to all Member States, civil society organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations, to the United Nations Security Council that has dealt with AIDS as a humanitarian issue and a threat to human and national security.
I call on the international community to reinforce and expand the unique, multi-sector, multi-actor approach of UNAIDS, as an integral element of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
This means making sure that we meet the annual target of $26 billion in funding, including $13 billion for the next three years, through the Global Fund's Fifth Replenishment," Ban Ki moon said.