Goal #6Combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases
Introduction
Malaria, together with HIV/AIDS and TB, is one of the major public health challenges undermining development in the poorest countries in the world. Malaria kills an African child every 30 seconds. Many children who survive an episode of severe malaria may suffer from learning impairments or brain damage. Pregnant women and their unborn children are also particularly vulnerable to malaria, which is a major cause of perinatal mortality, low birth weight and maternal anaemia.
The Targets
Goal 6 of the Millennium Development Goals sets out by the year 2015 to:
- Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.
- Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it.
- Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.
Did You Know?
- In sub-Saharan Africa, there are currently 4.1 million people with AIDS who are in immediate need of life-saving anti-retroviral drugs. (Source:WTO)
- Currently more than 11 million children in Africa have lost at least one parent to HIV/AIDS; that number is expected to reach 20 million by 2010. (Source:UNAIDS/UNICEF)
- There are 42 million people living with HIV and AIDS worldwide. It is a global emergency claiming approximately 8,000 lives every day in some of the poorest countries. (Source:Oxfam)
- 1 in every 100 people worldwide is HIV positive: One third of them are aged 15-24.(Source:ActionAid UK)
- Approximately 40% of the world's population-mostly those living in the world's poorest countries-is at risk of contracting malaria. Malaria causes more than 300 million acute illnesses and at least one million deaths annually.
Achieving the Goals
Rose Rwabasinga, a widow living with HIV/AIDS in Rwanda sold her car and land to support her family. In 2004 with the support of international donors, the government of Rwanda began providing free antiretroviral drugs to people living with HIV/AIDS. "It was a catastrophe! I had nothing left to sell," remembers the mother of three, "If the free drugs had come just a little later, I could certainly have died."
Goal News
Senegalese Entertainer Baba Maal promoting MDG Goals 4 and 5 at an event organized by the UN Country Office to support the MDG Campaign. The event was jointly organized with the National Civil Society Consortium.(CONGAD)
Senegal launches Parliamentary MDG Committee to monitor MDG Performance. This was a join event by the UN Millennium Campaign and the UN Country Team, lead by the RC.
DAKAR (AlertNet) – African solutions to African problems is the mantra of governments across this continent. But what about the goodwill ambassadors that fly around speaking about the issues that touch Africa most deeply, should they be African too?
Just days before an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between Cameroon and Senegal in Dakar, the United Nations named Senegal’s captain, Mamadou Niang, a champion of the U.N.
As cities around the world struggle to meet the basic needs of their booming populations, many are falling behind when it comes to water, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement marking World Day for Water.
“Urbanization brings opportunities for more efficient water management and improved access to drinking water and sanitation,” Ban said. “At the same time, problems are often magnified in cities,” he added.
The ‘AIDS and MDGs’ approach
“Over the past three decades, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has reminded us of the fundamental linkages between health and development more broadly.
