WHO says world has 'failed miserably' in getting AIDS drugs to millions.

2004 AUG 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) said July 13, 2004, the world has "failed miserably" in getting lifesaving drugs to millions afflicted with HIV, and France accused the United States of bullying poor countries into ceding rights to make affordable generic medicine.

A U.S. official denied the French allegation at the International AIDS Conference as "nonsense," while delegates lamented that only about 7% of the 6 million people in poor countries who need antiretroviral treatment are getting it.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Washington to show the same leadership in fighting AIDS as it has in fighting terrorism.

"We hear a lot about weapons of mass destruction, we hear a lot about terrorism. And we are worried about weapons of mass destruction because of the potential to kill thousands. Here we have an epidemic that is killing millions. What is the response?" Annan said in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. in Bangkok.

"We really do need a leadership. America has a natural leadership capacity because of its resources, because of its size," Annan said.

Since the last AIDS conference in Barcelona in 2002, the number of people being treated for the disease has doubled in the developing world to 440,000. At the same time, 6 million people died from the virus and 10 million people became infected, WHO figures show.

"By these measures of human life, the ones that really matter, we have failed. And we have failed miserably to do enough in the precious time that has passed since Barcelona," said Jim Kim, WHO's AIDS director.