United Nations Millennium Development Goals

GOAL 6:
COMBAT HIV/AIDS, MALARIA AND OTHER DISEASES

Target 6.A:
Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS

• New HIV infections continue to decline in the hardest-hit regions.
• More people than ever are living with HIV due to fewer AIDS-related deaths and the continued large number of new infections.
• Comprehensive knowledge of HIV transmission remains low among young people, along with condom use.

Target 6.B:
Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it

• Access to treatment for people living with HIV increased in all regions.
• At the end of 2011, 8 million people were receiving antiretroviral therapy for HIV or AIDS in developing regions. This total constitutes an increase of over 1.4 million people from December 2009, and the largest one-year increase ever.

Target 6.C:
Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases

• The global estimated incidence of malaria has decreased by 17 per cent since 2000, and malaria-specific mortality rates by 25 per cent.
• Countries with improved access to malaria control interventions saw child mortality rates fall by about 20 per cent.
• Thanks to increased funding, more children are sleeping under insecticide-treated bed nets in sub-Saharan Africa.
• The anti-tuberculosis drive is closing in on a 50 per cent cut in the 1990 death rate and more TB patients are being successfully treated.

Featured stories

• Expanded prevention and control triggers 25 per cent drop in malaria deaths
• Tuberculosis Care for Rural Swaziland. Tuberculosis is currently the main cause of death among adults in Swaziland. In remote regions where access to health services is a challenge, efforts are underway to bring the much needed medication directly into the patients’ home.
• In Ethiopia, more HIV-positive mothers deliver babies free of the virus through a programme that's putting an end to mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

MDG 6 Infographic

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