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Stephen Lewis reacts to WHO AIDS treatment progress update

    JOHANNESBURG

    The UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis, on Thursday defended the World Health Organisation (WHO) after a recent progress report revealed that only 1 million people were currently receiving antiretroviral medication.

    The initial target was to have 3 million people on anti-AIDS drugs by the end of 2005 in what is known as the '3 by 5' campaign.

    Lewis said in a statement, "I can even now hear the curmudgeonly bleats of the detractors, whining that we will fall short of the target of three million in treatment by the end of this year, [but] tell that to the one million people who are now on treatment, and who would otherwise be dead."

    He said it was noteworthy that WHO's '3 by 5' initiative had ushered the phrase "universal treatment" into the language of the pandemic.

    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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