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Global community urged to increase HIV/AIDS efforts

    JOHANNESBURG

    UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot on Wednesday said if the global community does not "dramatically increase" its efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS, it will be sowing the seeds of future humanitarian disasters.

    According to the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, HIV/AIDS in Africa has caused a "steady fall" in agricultural production, with approximately seven million agricultural workers in 25 African nations dying of AIDS-related illnesses since 1985.

    "And the more we delay making a proper investment in the AIDS fight, the more the eventual costs will escalate," Piot said in a Washington Post opinion piece.

    Piot added that increased spending on testing and treatment was "one of the best things we can do to safeguard economic and human development worldwide".

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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