Ramping up the fight to end AIDS… world leaders at the United Nations on Wednesday adopted a landmark declaration to fast-track the aids fight, and end the epidemic by the year 2030.
The political declaration at the UN Aids Summit comes alongside significant gains in providing life-saving medication to patients, reducing new infections among children, and a dip in AIDS-related deaths.
But the fight is far from over, as our U.N. Correspondent Liling Tan reports.
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TAKE SOT "I had a long journey after losing my mother and younger brother."
In 2004, Loyce Maturu was just 12 years old when she found out she was sick with the same disease that killed her mother and brother.
TAKE SOT "I thought I was going to die, but here I am today."
Huge strides made in the battle against HIV/AIDS have given new hope to the 37 million people living with the disease, and a boost to the global fight.
Riding on that momentum, world leaders at the United Nations UN AIDS summit pledged to end the epidemic by the year 2030.
President of the UN General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft:
TAKE SOT "Ending the Aids epidemic would be one of the greatest achievements of our lifetimes. It can be done and it must be done."
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon:
TAKE SOT "Over the next five years, we have a window of opportunity to radically change the trajectory of the epidemic and put an end to AIDS forever."
To put the world on track for that deadline, UN member nations agreed to speed up plans over the next five years to cut the number of new HIV infections from 2.1 million now to fewer than 500,000, half the number of AIDS-related deaths to less than 500,000 and eliminate HIV/AIDS related discrimination.
TAKE SOT "As the great Nelson Mandela said, it is in our hands."
Lending his voice to the fight, Nelson Mandela's grandson, Ndaba Mandela, recalled how his father had died from AIDS.
Speaking up for AIDS survivors, he also had this advice.
TAKE SOT "Always carry two condoms. At least two. One for you to use without fail, and another to give to someone who isn't carrying one. It could save your life, and it could save theirs."
Gains are already being made in prevention and treatment: 17 million people now have access to life-saving antiretroviral drugs.
And Thailand just became the first country in the Asia-Pacific region to eliminate mother-to-child transmission, according to the World Health Organization.
But there remains a few setbacks.
UNAIDS says that the decline in new adult infections has slowed alarmingly, remaining nearly static in recent years, while new HIV infections in eastern Europe and central Asia have spiked 57 percent… a reminder that the fight to end AIDS is still an uphill battle. Liling Tan, CCTV, New York.
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