Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) releases the 2004 AIDS
Epidemic Update
SILVER SPRING, Md., Nov. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Zeda Rosenberg, Sc.D., Chief
Executive Officer of the International Partnership for Microbicides, issued
the following statement upon reviewing the UNAIDS/WHO 2004 AIDS Epidemic
Update:
Women are the new face of AIDS. Today, nearly half of the 37.2 million
adults living with HIV worldwide are women, up from 41 percent only seven
years ago. The new Epidemic Update 2004 released today shows that women and
girls are increasingly affected by the disease in each region of the world and
the epidemic continues to worsen.
Current prevention options are not enough. If women and girls are to have
a genuine opportunity to protect themselves, their best option is the rapid
development of new HIV-prevention technologies like microbicides, which women
can control.
The world's governments must dramatically increase investment in
microbicide research and development in light of the recently released
statistics on the state of the epidemic and its impact on women and girls.
The pharmaceutical industry must also continue to show leadership and make new
anti-viral agents available for testing as microbicides. Finding a
microbicide is essential if we are to achieve the Millennium Development
Goals.
With an additional global investment of US $ 1 billion (euro 771 million),
microbicides could be in the hands of women in developing countries within the
next five to ten years, potentially saving 2.5 million lives over three years.
According to the UNAIDS report, since 2002, the number of women living
with HIV has risen in each region of the world. The biggest rise was in East
Asia (a 56% increase), followed by the region of Eastern Europe and Central
Asia (up by 48%). In the US, AIDS ranks among the top three causes of death
for African-American women aged 35-44. Infection rates among young women are
especially high. In Kenya, for every 20 young men with HIV, there are 45
women with the virus. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 76 % of the young people (15-24)
with HIV are girls under 20.
Microbicides
Microbicides are substances that kill or immobilize HIV, the virus that
causes AIDS. Under development for use as a vaginal gel or cream, or
contained within a sponge or vaginal ring that would release the drug slowly
over days or weeks, microbicides would give women a way to protect themselves
from HIV, and could alter the fundamental imbalance that makes so many women
susceptible to infection.
About IPM
IPM seeks to deliver a safe and effective microbicide for women in
developing countries as soon as possible. The IPM identifies the most
promising technologies and invests its resources to help develop them into
usable products. Given current scientific advancements and the identification
of a number of potential microbicidal agents, an effective microbicide could
be developed by the end of the decade. IPM is led by Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Zeda Rosenberg, who is a Harvard-trained microbiologist and public health
advocate.
Donors to IPM include the governments of Denmark, Ireland, the
Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom as well as the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the World Bank and the UNFPA.
In 2004, IPM entered into agreements with Tibotec Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a
Belgium-based subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson, Inc., and GlaxoSmithKline to
develop and screen microbicide compounds, respectively.
For more information, please visit IPM's website:
http://www.ipm-microbicides.org
SOURCE International Partnership for Microbicides
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Related links:
http://www.ipm-microbicides.org
CONTACT:
Annmarie Leadman of International Partnership
for Microbicides, +1-301-608-2221, aleadman@ipm-microbicides.org
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