Tragic AIDS impact, despite international efforts

HIV/AIDS continues to have a "tragic" impact on developing countries and young adults, regardless of international efforts, according to a senior US official.

During a recent speech in Washington to highlight the early successes of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, US Global AIDS coordinator Randall Tobias characterised the pandemic as "the biggest destroyer of hope", without which "people can be driven to extremes".

He said the loss of future generations to AIDS would also hamper the efforts of some countries to lift themselves out of poverty.

"Young adults are among the hardest hit by HIV/AIDS ... it is really a blow to the society, and the country in which they live, because it is destroying the precious human capital that otherwise would be building the future of those countries," Tobias said in a statement.