NGO ranks HIV/AIDS among top humanitarian crises of '09

NEW YORK: Dwindling funding for HIV/AIDS threatens to leave an estimated 10 million infected people without treatment in the developing world, making it one of 2009's top 10 humanitarian crises, according to Doctors Without Borders.

Other crises that made the list released by the medical humanitarian group yesterday were: governments blocking access to lifesaving assistance in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Sudan; a lack of respect for civilian safety and aid efforts in Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia; and inadequate international funds to fight neglected diseases and malnutrition.

The executive director of Doctors Without Borders' US section, Sophie Delaunay, said the group wanted to alert policymakers not to let down their guards in the fight against HIV/AIDS, which continues to be a crisis despite the advent of life-sustaining treatment.