Volunteers set up 8,000 candles in the shape of the African continent as part of a demonstration entitled 'Africa needs medicine now' at the Parliament square in Berne, Switzerland, last Thursday, World AIDS Day. - REUTERS
ABUJA (AP):
MORE THAN three million people in Africa have been infected with the virus that causes AIDS this year, the highest in any single year, the head of the United Nations (U.N.) agency coordinating global efforts against the disease said yesterday.
Speaking at the opening in Nigeria of an international conference on AIDS in Africa, Peter Piot of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS or UNAIDS, said young people account for half of the new infections, leaving the continent with "an unprecedented AIDS crisis."
"AIDS continues to outstrip Africa's efforts to contain it," threatening coming generations, he said. Piot urged a rapid expansion of prevention and treatment programmes across the continent.
Infections peaked at 3.2 million, the highest in any single year, said Piot.
"Our priority now must be to ensure that money and resources available for AIDS reaches those who need it most," he said.
KNOCKING HEADS
The December 4 to 9 conference is bringing together scientists, HIV/AIDS activists and political leaders to exchange ideas and forge new strategies to battle the disease.
For two days beginning today, chairman of the African Union, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, will host a special session to discuss options for expanding continentwide access to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programmes.
The AIDS conference, first held in 1986, has proved a periodic opportunity for taking stock of efforts against the disease that has killed 40 million worldwide, most of them in Africa.
