Nuha Ceesay, UNAIDS country officer, has revealed that about 25 million women and children have died of the HIV/AIDS virus over the last 25 years, and that just a fraction of 33 million people living with the virus are aware of their status.

With very few people having access to the medicines they need to stay alive, HIV/AIDS, according to him, continue to be one of the most destructive epidemics in human history. Its spread continues to outpace the global response. The UNAIDS country officer disclosed this last Thursday, at a one day symposium, in observance of the World AIDS Day 2008 which coincided with the 20th anniversary of the world AIDS Day. The theme of the symposium was: "Keep the promise, global commitment in the response to HIV/AIDS".

Organized by the Network of AIDS Service Organisation (NASO), the programme brought participants from the national Aids Secretariat (NAS), people living with HIV/AIDS, NGOs, community based organisations, health practitioners, media practitioners, among a host of other stakeholders.

The day-long forum was characterized by presentations of papers on the dangers of the disease, its prevention, treatment and care. Also discussed at the session was an overview of the world aids day, leadership role in national response, as well as empowerment of people living with the disease, and its  impact on the society, political, economic, religious, etc.

According to Ceesay, lack of human rights protection, poverty and marginalization, have allowed the pandemic to take root among society’s most vulnerable population, especially women, children and the young. "They are often denied the tool and information required to avoid infecfion and to cope with the disease," he said, and added, : “women and children make up 57 percent of all people infected with HIV in sub Saharan Africa, where a striking 76 percent of young people, age 15 to 24, living with the disease, are female.

He recalled a 2001 UN General Assembly meeting which highlighted the untold sufferings and death caused by the HIV pandemic in the course of 20 years, with special reference to Africa. He quoted the former UN secretary general, Kofi Anan, as urging world leaders to make strict and unpromising efforts to stop the spread of the disease. Numerous questions on access to medicine by those living with the disease, preventive methods, care, awareness about the existence of the disease, among others, were discussed. Ahmed Jaegan Loum, coordinator of Network of AIDS Service Organisation, chaired the programme.