UNU Update
The newsletter of United Nations University and its
network of research and training centres and programmes

 

Issue 12: October - November 2001

UNAIDS chief gives speech
on AIDS and human security

Dr. Peter Piot

The global AIDS epidemic is one of the central security issues for the 21st Century, according to Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

During a lecture at UNU Centre in Tokyo October 2, Dr. Piot said that AIDS affects affects personal security, economic security and the stability of communities.

Dr. Piot also addressed the rapidly evolving epidemic in Asia. Unless prevention programmes quickly start reaching the population groups most exposed to infection, the epidemic in Asia will continue to take its natural and largely unpredictable course.

Today, HIV/AIDS threatens the welfare and well-being of people throughout the world. At the end of last year, 36.1 million people were living with HIV or AIDS, and 3 million died from AIDS-related illnesses. While the majority of infections (25.3 million) are in sub-Saharan Africa, the epidemic is intensifying in many other parts of the world.  

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