NEW YORK (Sputnik) — US President Barack Obama announced two new Washington's initiatives to combat the further spread of HIV/AIDS and provide treatment to infected individuals in a speech at the United Nations.
Obama announced the United States will increase the number of people receiving funding from HIV/AIDS programs “so that nearly 13 million people with HIV/AIDS get lifesaving treatment.”
The United States will also invest $300 million to reduce the number of new HIV infections among young women in Sub-Saharan Africa, Obama said.
In 2014, the Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS introduced an initiative to reduce the rate of new HIV infections from 500,000 per year to 200,000 and provide treatment to 95 percent of individuals living with the illness.
According to the World Health Organization, 38 million people have died of AIDS since 1981, and 1.5 million people died of AIDS-related causes in 2013.
