Press Release
UN Urges Unified Action to Prevent Escalation of HIV/AIDS in Iraq
Joint UNICEF, WHO, UNFPA Media Release
AMMAN, 1 December 2005: Although the current numbers of persons infected with HIV/AIDS in Iraq is low - estimated to be 448, today on World AIDS Day the United Nations cautions that this figure could increase dramatically if unified actions are not taken and preventive measures put in place to keep the killer disease in check.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), while the estimated 448 infected persons represent recorded cases, the number of those currently known to be infected and alive in Iraq is 61.
The UN statement comes on the heels of a new report jointly issued a week ago by the WHO and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), which underscores that, although there is new evidence pointing to a decrease in the rate of HIV/AIDS infections in certain countries, the overall number of people living with the virus has continued to increase in all but one region of the world.
According to the UN the number of people living with HIV globally has reached its highest level, an estimated 40.3 million people, up from 37.5 million in 2003. The report also highlights five million new infections in 2005 and three million deaths from AIDS-related illnesses, which included 500,000 children, in the same period.
This year's global theme for World AIDS Day, which is being flagged around the world, is Stop AIDS - Keep the Promise. It calls on Governments to keep commitments made at the 2000 UN Millennium Summit to put an end to HIV/AIDS. In addition to Governments, the appeal is also aimed at organizations, local governments, civil society, individuals and communities and is a further call for unified efforts and strengthened responses.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), WHO, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the UNAIDS are currently supporting the Iraq National AIDS Programme. To date a strategic framework has been developed and will be the basis of the future national plan. Currently the Iraqi Government and its partners are looking at the gaps and deficiencies in the national response to ascertain further needs and responses to the potential threat and to prevent any development into an epidemic.
UNICEF’s Special Representative for Iraq, Roger Wright, said children were often not on the HIV/AIDS radar screen because “they become infected, die and are often not perceived to be major transmitters of the virus”. Underscoring that they were often left out of global awareness campaigns, budgets and actions, he pointed to the launch on 25 October of the Agency’s “Unite for Children – Unite Against AIDS” campaign as “a clarion call for collective action against an epidemic that is increasingly hurting young people and terminating their natural right to develop into adults”. UNICEF, he said, would continue to keep the issue of HIV/AIDS and children high on the Iraqi agenda and focus on educating the population – especially young people - stressing that prevention is the key in a low prevalence setting. “Since there are proportionately more youth today than ever before, they must now become directly involved in our thrust to bring about HIV/AIDS prevention”, he added.
UNFPA’s Chief of Operation for Iraq, Dr. Katharina Hackstein, stated that her agency will strive to ensure that every young person is free of HIV/AIDS and that strategies must involve all people affected – including young people who constitute over half of all new infections worldwide each year - and respond to the realities they face. She added that currently UNFPA is developing a regional strategy in the area of HIV/AIDS prevention. Based on that, a comprehensive programme is also being developed for Iraq together with the Iraqi authorities and the other UN Agencies active in the area of HIV/AIDS.
For further information, please contact:
David Singh, Media and External Relations, UNICEF Iraq Support Centre in Amman:
+962 (0) 6 551 5921 dsingh@unicef.org
