Goals

Sixth goal

COMBAT HIV/AIDS AND OTHER DISEASES

INTRODUCTION

Malaria, together with HIV/AIDS and TB, is one of the major public health challenges undermining development in the poorest countries in the world. Malaria kills an African child every 30 seconds. Many children who survive an episode of severe malaria may suffer from learning impairments or brain damage. Pregnant women and their unborn children are also particularly vulnerable to malaria, which is a major cause of perinatal mortality, low birth weight and maternal anaemia.

THE TARGETS

Goal 6 of the Millennium Development Goals sets out by the year 2015 to:

• Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.
• Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it.
• Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.

(source: UN Millennium Campaign website www.endpoverty2015.org)

DID YOU KNOW?

In sub-Saharan Africa, there are currently 4.1 million people with AIDS who are in immediate need of life-saving anti-retroviral drugs. (Source:WTO)

Currently more than 11 million children in Africa have lost at least one parent to HIV/AIDS; that number is expected to reach 20 million by 2010. (Source:UNAIDS/UNICEF)

There are 42 million people living with HIV and AIDS worldwide. It is a global emergency claiming approximately 8,000 lives every day in some of the poorest countries. (Source:Oxfam)

1 in every 100 people worldwide is HIV positive: One third of them are aged 15-24.(Source:ActionAid UK)

Approximately 40% of the world's population-mostly those living in the world's poorest countries-is at risk of contracting malaria. Malaria causes more than 300 million acute illnesses and at least one million deaths annually.