Category:Book:Development Cooperation Handbook/MDG6

In developing countries many people die each year of preventable diseases. Thousands of people every day become infected with HIV and die from AIDS.

The MDG 6 intends increasing access to treatment and stopping the spread of AIDS and diseases like tuberculosis and malaria. Thanks to improvements in prevention programmes and increased access to treatment, the number of newly infected people and those who die from AIDS has started declining.

Higher survival rates also implies that more people today are living with HIV, most of them being in sub-Saharan Africa. And Malaria, one of the biggest killers in Africa, kills one African child every 30 seconds while it is virtually absent from Europe and the Middle East.

Programmes for HIV/ AIDS prevention have now started showing results. For instance, India had the largest number of deaths from AIDS. Thanks to the efforts of governments and non-government organizations, HIV incidence in India has declined in recent years.