UNAIDS Director Urges Collaboration
Epidemic devastates africa and threatens asia

FORUM l Partnerships are vital in combating the AIDS crisis, according to Peter Piot, executive director of UNAIDS and under secretary-general of the United Nations. Speaking at the Forum in February on “Combating AIDS in Africa and Asia: The Power of Partnerships,” Piot said collaborations are the only way to expand the resource base of both money and people.

The distinguished scientist, who co-discovered the Ebola virus in 1976, underscored the immense task that lies ahead. In some countries in southern and eastern Africa, almost half of the adults are HIV infected. South Asia’s epidemic, which is still in the early stages, however, threatens to be the world’s largest in sheer numbers. Despite the sobering realities of AIDS, progress is being made, according to Piot. Decades into the disease, funding is finally reaching realistic levels — from millions to billions of dollars. Of the $10 billion calculated to be necessary to fight the pandemic in the developing world, he said, $3 billion has been raised — six times the amount raised four years ago.