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PandemicWith no cure at present, prudence could save thousands of people who have yet to be exposed to the virus. Use of condoms lessens the possibility of transmission, as does the elimination of sharing hypodermic needles. The fate of many will depend less on science than on the ability of large numbers of human beings to change their behavior in the face of growing danger. The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy in 1996 was a turning point for those with access to sophisticated health-care systems. Although they can't cure HIV/AIDS, antiretrovirals (ARVs) and their use in combination, “cocktails,” have dramatically reduced mortality and morbidity and prolonged and improved the lives of sufferers. However, 95% of people with HIV/AIDS live in developing countries, where access to these medicines remains unacceptably limited and the costs prohibitively expensive. Progress has recently been made in India, however, as Indian pharmaceutical companies are producing generic versions of ARVs and selling them for less than $1 a day. Another obstacle is that not everyone can tolerate the potent medications and their side effects. Doctors are also reporting a significant increase of patients with drug-resistant HIV strains. Some 100 separate drugs are either in use or being tested for use against AIDS. In July 2006, the FDA approved the first single-pill, once-a-day AIDS treatment, thereby allowing patients to manage their disease without a complicated regimen of drugs that must be strictly followed to be effective. The pill, called Atripla, is considered an enormous breakthrough in AIDS treatment, and will help prevent the disease from mutating into drug-resistant strains, which occurs when drugs are not taken regularly. On a global scale, about 36 million people have died to date. There are 35 million people living with HIV, including 3.2 million children, most of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa and were infected by their HIV-positive mothers during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding. Each day more than 650 children become newly infected with HIV. At the end of 2013, almost 12.9 million HIV-positive people were receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART) worldwide, with 11.7 million having access to in low- and middle-income countries (with 740,000 children). However, that leaves almost 22 million still not accessing ART.
Treatment More than 8 million people living worldwide with HIV had access to antiretroviral therapy in 2011. The two-year span 2009 to 2011 saw 63% more people accessing treatment. While news is good in 10 low and middle income countries, where more than 80% of eligible people were receiving therapy, 7 million people eligible worldwide still did not have access, including 72% of children living with HIV.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that is concerned with international public health. It was established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a member of the United Nations Development Group. Its predecessor, the Health Organization, was an agency of the League of Nations. The constitution of the World Health Organization had been signed by all 61 countries of the United Nations by 22 July 1946, with the first meeting of the World Health Assembly finishing on 24 July 1948. It incorporated the Office International d'Hygiène Publique and the League of Nations Health Organization. Since its creation, WHO has been responsible for playing a leading role in the eradication of smallpox. Its current priorities include communicable diseases, in particular, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis; the mitigation of the effects of non-communicable diseases; sexual and reproductive health, development, and aging; nutrition, food security and healthy eating; substance abuse; and drive the development of reporting, publications, and networking. WHO is responsible for the World Health Report, a leading international publication on health, the worldwide World Health Survey, and World Health Day. Its links with the IAEA and distribution of contraception have both proved controversial, as have guidelines on healthy eating and the 2009 flu pandemic. World Health Day is celebrated every year on 7 April, under the sponsorship of the World Health Organization (WHO). In 1948, the World Health Organization held the First World Health Assembly. The Assembly decided to celebrate 7 April of each year, with effect from 1950, as the World Health Day. The World Health Day is held to mark WHO's founding, and is seen as an opportunity by the organization to draw worldwide attention to a subject of major importance to global health each year.[1] The WHO organizes international, regional and local events on the Day related to a particular theme. Resources provided continue beyond 7 April, that is, the designated day for celebrating the World Health Day. World Health Day is acknowledged by various governments and non-governmental organizations with interests in public health issues, who also organize activities and highlight their support in media reports, such as through press releases issued in recent years by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton[2] and the Global Health Council.[3]
Date: 2015-01-11; view: 840
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