世界艾滋病日，聯合國敦促各國繼續攜手抗病

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says the world is finally in a position to eradicate AIDS, but says funding will be critical to future progress in fighting the epidemic.

In a statement to commemorate World AIDS Day on Thursday, Mr. Ban urged international donors to meet the estimated $24 billion needed annually to fully fund global AIDS initiatives.

In Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama announced an additional $50 million to support domestic anti-AIDS programs. He also said the United States has set new targets of helping 1.5 million HIV-positive pregnant women and more than six million people in total over the next two years.

Still, many observers worry that global AIDS efforts may face serious cut backs as governments in Europe and the U.S. try to make up for large budget deficits.

Kumar Chandiramani of the medical charity group Doctors Without Borders says his organization is worried about a potential lack of funding.

A U.N. report released Wednesday said domestic and international funding for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, decreased from $15.9 billion in 2009 to $15 billion in 2010, well below the threshold it says is needed for a comprehensive, global response.

The report found the number of new HIV infections has dropped by 15 percent in the past decade. But it also found that new infections increased by 250 percent in the past decade in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The U.N. estimates that 34 million people around the world are living with HIV.聯合國祕書長潘基文說，世界最終將消除艾滋病。但他說，在未來抗議這一疾病的過程中，資金將成爲至關重要的問題。

潘基文在星期四世界艾滋病日發表的聲明中敦促國際捐助者完成據估計每年240億美元的需求，全面資助全球抗擊艾滋病的倡議。

在華盛頓，美國總統奧巴馬宣佈再撥出5000萬美元支持美國國內抗擊艾滋病的項目。他還說，美國設立了新的目標，在未來兩年內幫助150萬感染艾滋病毒的懷孕婦女和600多萬人。

仍然有許多觀察家擔憂，隨着歐美試圖填補其鉅額預算赤字，全球抗擊艾滋病的努力將內面臨資金被嚴重削減的問題。

醫療慈善組織醫生無國界的尚迪雅曼尼說，該組織擔憂潛在的資金短缺問題。

聯合國星期三發表的報告說，研究艾滋病毒的國家和國際資金從2009年的159億美元減少到2010年的150億美元，低於全球性全面應對這一問題所需的指標。

這份報告發現，新感染艾滋病毒的人數在過去10年中下降了15%。但報告也發現，在過去10年中，東歐和中亞的新感染人數上升了250%。

聯合國估計，目前全球有3400萬艾滋病毒感染者。