Combat HIV, Malaria and other diseases

AIDS is caused by a virus called HIV and has claimed many victims. In several African countries, 20 percent or more of the population between the ages of 15 and 49 has contracted HIV and 2 million people die as a result of the disease. There is no vaccine or cure for AIDS however aid can be given in the shape of a combined treatment. The spread of HIV must be halted and there must be universal access to treatment for all those who need it.

Malaria also claims many victims. Annually, 1 million people die as a result of the disease and a further 500 million people contract the disease. 90 percent of these people live in Africa. A large part of the global population runs the risk of contracting malaria; the disease has re-emerged in areas where it has been extinct or under control before. Malaria is caused by a parasite; people are infected through mosquito bites. There is no vaccine against malaria. Malaria is curable if diagnosed immediately and treatment is given straightaway. However, the resistance of the parasites against treatment is an increasing issue.

Current situation:

HIV/AIDS
Since 1990 the number of cases of HIV has increased in large parts of the world. Many millions of people have since then died as a result of AIDS. Prevention is crucial and has to be supported by promoting the use of condoms, safe sex, safe blood transfusions, none sharing of needles and treatment of mothers with HIV/AIDS during and after child birth. As a result of improved prevention programmes, the number of new cases has decreased from 3 million in 2001 to 2.7 million in 2007. The number of people dying of AIDS is decreasing steadily in the last years, mostly due to better availability of medicine. As a result of longer life expectancy for people with HIV, the number of infected people has risen to about 33 million in 2007.

Malaria
The progression in the fight against malaria is difficult to establish due to the lack of reliable data from the developing countries. Each year, an estimated 900.000 people die of malaria, most of these are children under the age of 5. The risk of contracting malaria seems to remain highest in Sub-Sahara Africa, 95 percent of the cases occurs here. However, a few countries here have seen good progression such as South-Africa and Eritrea. As a result of the distribution of mosquito nets which have been treated with insecticide and introduction of ACT as a treatment for malaria, the numbers of deaths as a result of malaria have decreased dramatically.

TBC
In 2007, an estimated 1.7 million people died of TBC and almost 14 million people contracted the disease. In most regions, the number of new cases of TBC has decreased in the last years. If the decrease continuous in this way, the millennium goal in seems achievable in 2015. However, in Sub-Saharan Africa the percentage of people with TBC continuous to rise.