Reaching 3 by 5…by 7: new report on universal access

On 2 June 2008, the World Health Organization (WHO), UNAIDS and UNICEF launched the joint report, “Towards Universal Access: Scaling up HIV Treatment, Care and Prevention Interventions in the Health Sector”.

The new report contains the latest numbers on access to HIV treatment, and to key prevention interventions such as antiretrovirals to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission in low- and middle-income countries worldwide.

It marks the significance of getting 3 million HIV-positive people on treatment, which although originally tied to the “3×5 campaign” shows that persistently working and focusing on treatment programmes, together with the infrastructure they require, has achieved health outcomes that few people thought possible when combination therapy was first available in the West from the late 1990’s.