title: Ministers of health urge intensified fight against AIDS. Latin America.
abstract: Ministers of health from all the countries of the Americas agree there is "an imperative need to mobilize all sectors of the society in the campaign against AIDS."  Noting "the growing threat posed by the AIDS epidemic, infection with HIV, and the increase in sexually transmitted diseases," the health ministers urged intensified national efforts to prevent AIDS.  The ministers, in Washington, D.C., for the 37th meeting of the Pan American Health Organization's (PAHO) Directing Council, reviewed the latest information on AIDS, which shows that of the more than 700,000 cases of AIDS worldwide, more than half occur in the Americas.  PAHO experts estimate there are 2.5 million HIV-infected people in the Americas, including 1 million in North America and 1.5 million in Latin America and the Caribbean.  There are indications the infection is continuing to spread rapidly.  "A significant increase in the number of AIDS cases is expected in the coming years, particularly in Latin American and the Caribbean," and the AIDS epidemic, in addition to the suffering it inflicts, has enormous direct and indirect costs which must be reduced through preventive actions, according to a report presented at the meeting.  In a resolution, the ministers also called for "the best possible coordination of preventive actions at the regional and country level," requesting member governments to "intensify national efforts to prevent HIV, AIDS and sexually transmitted disease and diminish" their social and economic consequences through unified, coordinated actions involving governments and nongovernment organizations in the fight against AIDS.
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; D003906:Developing Countries; D004194:Disease; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D015658:HIV Infections; D007843:Latin America; D009938:Organizations; D014777:Virus Diseases
keywords: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome--prevention and control; Developing Countries; Diseases; Epidemics; Hiv Infections; Latin America; Organizations; Viral Diseases