Together we will end AIDS

Ahead of the 19th International AIDS Conference, UNAIDS launched Together we will end AIDS, a report containing the latest data on numbers of new HIV infections, numbers of people receiving antiretroviral treatment, AIDS-related deaths and HIV among children. The report also gives an overview of international and domestic HIV investments and the need for greater value for money and sustainability.

Foreword
The global community has made great progress in responding to the AIDS epidemic. More people than ever are receiving treatment, care and support. The prevention revolution is delivering dramatic results while science is offering new hope.

A decade of antiretroviral treatment has transformed HIV from a death sentence to a manageable chronic disease. There is a real opportunity to eliminate new infections among children within the next three years, and our goal to ensure that 15 million people receive antiretroviral therapy by 2015 can be achieved.

Yet every day, thousands more people are newly infected with HIV. Many are in groups at higher risk. They deserve special support and access to prevention services, such as condoms and measures to reduce harm. Others lack the information and resources they need and deserve to avoid infection. Far too many do not have the power to negotiate safer sex.

Stigma against people living with HIV and those at higher risk of infection persists. This is a human rights violation that also hampers our ability to address AIDS. Stigma, discrimination, punitive laws, gender inequality and violence continue to inflame the epidemic and thwart our strongest efforts to ‘get to zero’.

Last year, United Nations Member States set clear targets for significantly reducing HIV infection and AIDS deaths, and for scaling up treatment by 2015. The goals in their Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS can be met with the right commitment to, and investment in, the AIDS response.

People living with HIV enjoy full and productive lives, raising families, supporting others and becoming leaders in their own right. This success comes in large part thanks to the contributions of rights advocates, health workers, young people and communities united in their efforts to end the epidemic. The AIDS response has proven the power of partnerships among the private sector, the international community and political leaders.

Now is the time to take even more bold action, inspired by true global solidarity to achieve an AIDS-free world. I hope all those reading this report will use the information it provides to spur progress towards this goal. Together, we can realize our vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths.

Ban Ki-moon
Secretary-General of the United Nations