14 million, 35.9 billion, and 1

From AlterNet.org (thanks for the head's up, Toni):

Here are some numbers to consider: 14 million, 35.9 billion, and 1.

The first is an estimate of the number of people who will die of AIDS and other treatable diseases over the course of the coming year, most of them in the poor countries of the developing world.

The second figure represents the combined 2002 profits, in dollars, of the 10 biggest pharmaceutical companies listed in Fortune magazine's annual review of America's largest businesses.

The third figure corresponds to the number of countries that, last week, voted against a U.N. resolution on access to drugs in global epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The resolution emphasized that the failure to deliver life-saving drugs to millions of people who are living with HIV/AIDS constitutes a global health emergency. One hundred sixty seven countries voted in favor of the resolution. The single vote against it was cast by the United States.

NPR has been admirably running programming all day on World AIDS Day. It's the main feature on NPR.org's front page, and there are stories and links here. I had to dig deeper to find World AIDS Day coverage on CNN.com. Their front page currently lists two Health stories: "More obese choose stomach stapling" and "Newest tattoo trend? Removal." However their Health page does prominently feature World's AIDS Day. Full story here.

5:12:55 PM      trackback []