![[South Africa] Recipient of free drugs roll out.](https://assets.thenewhumanitarian.org/s3fs-public/styles/responsive_large_2x/public/images/200442.jpg.webp?itok=lCxlMRrX "The number of people taking ARVs in sub-Saharan Africa increased more than eight-fold")
Share & more
Fewer than 10 percent of HIV-positive women in developing countries received antiretrovirals (ARVs) during pregnancy and childbirth between 2003 and 2005, according to a new report.
In a report admitting that it has failed to achieve its '3 by 5' goal of getting 3 million people on ARVs by 2005, the World Health Organisation (WHO) noted that 1,800 children per day were born with HIV.
"Each year, over 570,000 children under the age of 15 die of AIDS, most having acquired HIV from their mothers," the report observed.
Frail health systems in impoverished regions were partly to blame, while other obstacles included weak partnerships among aid providers, inadequate drug supplies and funding shortfalls.
Globally, 18 developing countries met the '3 by 5' target of providing treatment to at least half of those in need by the end of 2005 - in Africa only Namibia, Botswana and Uganda achieved this goal.
WHO revealed that although just 1.3 million people were now accessing the drugs, well short of the target of 3 million, substantial progress had been made.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the hardest-hit region, the number of people receiving ARVs increased more than eight-fold from 100,000 to 810,000 in the two-year period.
"By the end of 2005, more than half of all people receiving HIV treatment in low- and middle-income countries resided in sub-Saharan Africa," the report noted.
The amount spent on HIV/AIDS across the world rose from US $4.7 billion in 2003 to $8.3 billion in 2005, with much of the funding coming from the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and the World Bank.
First-line treatment costs also decreased by between 37 percent and 53 percent, depending on the drug regimen used.
According to WHO and UNAIDS, the next step would be to develop national roadmaps for universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support, with country-specific targets to be achieved by 2010 and interim goals to measure progress.
For the full report: www.who.int
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