HIV/AIDS among Doctors Without Borders’ Top 10 humanitarian crises of 2009

Group: HIV/AIDS among Top 10 crises of the year

NEW YORK — A New York City medical humanitarian group says 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.

Other crises on the list released Monday by Doctors Without Borders are: 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 group says it wants to alert policy makers 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.