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Strengthened efforts against "foundering" AIDS battle urged

    JOHANNESBURG

    Global efforts to tackle HIV/AIDS and other diseases will founder unless the international community boosts basic medical care in developing countries, a UN health agency has said.

    In its annual report, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said while campaigns against individual diseases were essential, policy-makers should focus on overall health services to curb the spread of epidemics across national borders.

    The director-general of WHO, Dr. Lee Jong-wook, said in a statement: "These global health gaps are unacceptable. Effective action to improve population health is possible ... but it takes local knowledge, strength, and sustained international support to turn that possibility into reality."

    The organisation urged donors to bridge some of these gaps by funding more training for health workers in affected countries.

    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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