MDG#6 Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

The rampant spread of infectious diseases threatens to reverse development progress, reduce life expectancy and cut productivity. With an estimated 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS and 20 million deaths since the disease was first identified, AIDS poses an unprecedented health, economic, and social challenge on a global scale. By infecting young people disproportionately - half of all new HIV infections are among 15 to 24 year olds - and killing so many adults in their prime, the epidemic undermines local and international stability.

Other infectious diseases also seriously threaten the state of the world. Malaria is endemic in more than 100 countries and territories, and an estimated 300 million people are infected each year. Although there has been some success in eradicating the disease vectors - malaria-carrying mosquitoes - in areas with relatively low incidence, this has not been possible in wet, tropical climates. Tuberculosis continues to be the main cause of death from a single infectious agent among adults in developing countries. Over the past decade the rate of tuberculosis has grown rapidly in Europe and Central Asia, Africa, and parts of South and East Asia.

Targets:

• Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.
• Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.