Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Fides Service) - The World Health Organisation WHO started its week long annual meeting yesterday 17 May in Geneva, attended by delegations from 192 nation members. Among the main topics on the busy agenda, how to give new impulse to the struggle against AIDS, the threat of new infectious diseases and the growing impact on health of changed life styles.
The meeting will also discuss how to increase capacity to recognise and treat outbreaks of infections like SARS and bird flu transmitted by virus from animals to humans. One fundamental questions is how to guarantee drugs to treat AIDS to people in poor countries where there will be an estimated 3 million cases to treat by 2005. Less than 7% of the world’s six million new cases of AIDS every year receive medical treatment, according to the latest WHO report.
Treatment reaches only very few HIV/AIDS sufferers in Africa where there are 34 million of the 46 million cases reported and where already 20 million people have died of ADS.
The meeting also hopes to obtain get another 28 countries to ratify the anti-tobacco treaty so far ratified by 12 nations. WHO warns that by 2030 the number of people killed by smoking will have doubled, reaching the figure of 10 million, unless drastic preventative measures are taken. (AP) (18/5/2004 Agenzia Fides; Righe:21; Parole:269)
