World AIDS Day 2006

HIV/AIDS continues its relentless march around the world. According to the latest UNAIDS/WHO 2006 AIDS Epidemic Update, an estimated 39.5 million people are living with HIV. The AIDS pandemic continues to target vulnerable communities. 4.3 million people were newly infected in 2006, 65% of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa. In the past two years, the number of people living with HIV increased in every region in the world. In 2006, 2.9 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses.

Africa remains the global epicentre of the AIDS pandemic. In South Africa, one of the hardest-hit countries in the world, an estimated 5.5 million people were living with HIV in 2005. A dynamic epidemic is underway in Asia, with latest estimates of people living with HIV at 8.3 million. Asia and Eastern Europe have expanded dramatically - with a twenty-fold increase in HIV prevalence in the past ten years.

In the global fight against HIV/AIDS, Canada works with partners at all levels - from international agencies and governments of developing countries to community-based groups and the private sector to people living with, or affected by, the disease. Canada's approach to the pandemic is based on respecting human rights, promoting gender equality, fighting stigma and discrimination, developing sound public health evidence to identify the most appropriate actions, and strengthening health systems so they can provide better access to medicines. Canadian NGOs have also strengthened their involvement globally, both independently and in partnership with others in Canada and internationally.

Through the Global Engagement Component of the Federal Initiative to Address HIV/AIDS in Canada, Health Canada works to establish a strong, coherent health sector response to fulfill international commitments and to contribute to global efforts to address HIV/AIDS.

Please see Canada's Report on HIV/AIDS 2006, Action and Accountability for the current status of work being done under the Federal Initiative to Address HIV/AIDS in Canada.