OF NOTE THIS WEEK

Nearly four million people worldwide are now receiving AIDS drugs, but five million others are still in dire need of medicine, according to an annual AIDS report published by the WHO, UNICEF, and UNAIDS. The number of individuals being treated has jumped tenfold since 2003, and the biggest increase was in sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly 3 million people -- 44 percent of people with HIV in that region -- are now on the drugs. The Associated Press reports that some experts say it is time for the U.N. to focus on prevention strategies, such as drawing up circumcision policies, addressing the stigma around AIDS, and encouraging an open, fact-based discussion of sex.

NEWS AND HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE DONORS

• The Global Fund suspends its grants to the Tropical Disease Foundation in the Philippines in light of evidence of unauthorized expenditures
• PEPFAR, USAID and General Mills partner to improve food processing in Africa
• Global Fund Ambassador Carla Bruni-Sarkozy calls upon world leaders to eliminate mother-to-child HIV transmission by 2015

OTHER NEWS AND HIGHLIGHTS

• Findings Raise Hopes for Progress on AIDS Vaccine (Voice of America)
• Protectionism Won't Heal Africa's Sick (Wall St. Journal)
• Uganda: Couple-Centered Interventions Key in AIDS Fight (New Vision)
• Uganda: MPs Pressure Government for More AIDS Funding (PlusNews)
• South Africa: Budgeting Failures Threaten ARV Program (Aidsmap)
• If AIDS Went the Way of Smallpox (NY Times)
• Op-Ed: Let's Not Celebrate AIDS Vaccine Discovery (Daily Monitor)