ActionAid campaigners in Geneva today welcomed the World Health Organisation's renewed commitment to ensuring that 3 million people with HIV in poor countries receive life-saving treatments by the end of 2005. They called on next month's G8 meeting to make sure that the resources needed are available.
At the World Health Assembly today, WHO Director-General Lee Jong-Wook recommitted the organisation to achieving the '3 by 5' target and called on member states to achieve it.
ActionAid campaigner Simon Wright said: "We welcome the recommitment to this ambitious target. It is now for the G8 meeting early next month to put its weight behind the target too.
"G8 countries must set out what they will do to make sure this important challenge does not fail. This must include proper resources for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB & Malaria and explicit backing for the use of cheap generics."
ActionAid believes that the WHO's '3 by 5' initiative can be the spur to decent healthcare services for all poor and rural communities.