Progress on women's, children's health provides optimism for further success

Noting successes achieved under the Every Woman Every Child campaign and the Global Plan towards the elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe writes in the Huffington Post's "The Big Push" blog that leaders "have stepped up and stood strong for critical issues on the women's and children's health agenda to advance the health Millennium Development Goals and ensure the sustainability of results beyond 2015." He adds, "Most of all, they have engaged in a radical paradigm shift that places the notion of global solidarity at the core of our work." With the estimated number of children newly infected with HIV dropping and more women undergoing HIV testing and receiving antiretroviral medications, "[t]hese achievements deserve global attention," Sidibe says.

"First, because the models of coordination and partnership in Every Woman Every Child and in the Global Plan ... can be used as a standard and inspiration for mobilizing impactful action around large-scale global challenges," Sidibe writes, adding, "Second, because it gives hope for success and reminds us what is at stake, and that we have the power to save lives." However, "[w]e must accelerate the pace of implementation -- the current rate of progress is still insufficient to reach our goal for 2015, so we are calling on new and old partners to do more," he notes, concluding, "The fact that we are close to achieving the Millennium Development Goals in some parts of the world is an eloquent sign of hope for the future. New progress on women's and children's health will only add to this sense of drive and purpose" (9/24).