YEREVAN, JUNE 9, ARMENPRESS.  The high-level meeting on ending AIDS/HIV took place in UN’s General Assembly in New York.

Armed Muradyan, Healthcare Minister of Armenia was taking part in the meeting.

Different high-level officials from around the world participated in the session, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

“We have made enormous progress. Since 2000 the global total of people receiving antiretroviral treatment doubled every three to four years, thanks to cheaper drugs, increased competition and new funding. Today, more than 17 billion people are being treated, saving millions of lives and billions of dollars,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.

Furthermore, the world has achieved Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 6 – which included halting and reversing the AIDS epidemic – and new HIV infections have declined by 35 per cent since 2000, the UN chief said.

Noting that he was particularly happy that new HIV infections among children were down by 56 per cent in the past 15 years, the Secretary-General said that four countries had eliminated them completely: Armenia, Belarus, Cuba and Thailand.

“None of this could have happened without the leadership of people living with HIV, and civil society partners on the ground around the world. They believed that more equitable treatment and access was possible, and they made sure that we responded,” Mr. Ban said.

“They broke the silence and shone a light on discrimination, intolerance and stigma. They brought their passion to their fight, and that passion will make the end of AIDS a reality,” he added.

Armenian Healthcare Minister Armen Muradyan delivered a speech at the high-level meeting and noted the obligations which Armenia has undertaken, have fundamentally changed the conceptual approached of countering AIDS/HIV.

UN Member States adopted a new political declaration that includes a set of time-bound targets to fast-track the pace of progress towards combating the worldwide scourge of HIV and AIDS over the next five years and end the epidemic as a public health threat by 2030.