Global funding for AIDS needs to triple to $22 billion in 2008 to reverse the spread of the killer disease in the developing world, the United Nations said on Wednesday. UNAIDS, the U.N. agency, said financing from all sources must rise sharply from next year when $15 billion would be needed, compared with the $6.1 billion spent in 2004 and the some $8 billion expected to be made available this year. "We have come a long way in mobilising extra funds for AIDS ... but we still fall short of the $22 billion needed in 2008," said UNAIDS executive director Peter Piot. Around half of the money needed by 2008 would go to prevention campaigns, UNAIDS said in a statement, while some $5 billion would be required for drugs and treatments, according to Reuters. The aim was to ensure that 75 percent of AIDS sufferers, or around 6.6 million people, were receiving antiretroviral treatment in 2008. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), only some 700,000 people worldwide were receiving antiretrovirals in December last year, the latest date for which figures are available. About 38 million people, including 25 million in sub-Saharan African, are living with HIV/AIDS.
