UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly has overwhelmingly approved a declaration calling for urgent action to end AIDS by 2030, noting “with alarm” that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated inequalities and pushed access to AIDS medicines, treatments and diagnosis further off track. The declaration adopted Tuesday at a high-level meeting on AIDS commits the assembly’s 193 member nations to reduce annual new HIV infections to under 370,000 and AIDS-related deaths to under 250,000 by 2025. UNAIDS chief Winnie Byanyima says COVID-19 showed that science moves “at the speed of political will” and is urging speeded up spending to end the AIDS pandemic.
