Obama, Bush, Clinton to participate in AIDS talk

WASHINGTON/GENEVA

A woman attaches a condom on the board during an AIDS awareness campaign to increase awareness of the sexually-transmitted fatal disease in Seoul. REUTERS photo

President Barack Obama and his immediate predecessors, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, will join anti-AIDS advocates today in a panel discussion to observe World AIDS Day.

Bush, who will be in Tanzania, and Clinton will participate via satellite.

The discussion will be at George Washington University in Washington and will be streamed live on YouTube. Organizers say they hope to build on progress already made in the fight against the virus.

The event is sponsored by ONE and (RED), organizations that combat global poverty and AIDS. Among the panelists will be Bono, lead singer of the band U2 and co-founder of ONE and (RED).

Other participants include President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania; Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee.

HIV/AIDS in figures

Here are the latest global estimates of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, published by the UN agency UNAIDS.

Total infections in the world at end 2010: Around 34 million people living with HIV, in a range of 31.6 million to 35.2 million. This marks a rise from 32.9 million a year ago.

By region

Sub-Saharan Africa: 22.9 million
South and Southeast Asia: 4.0 million
East Asia: 790,000
Latin America: 1.5 million
North America: 1.3 million
Western and Central Europe: 840,000
Eastern Europe and Central Asia: 1.5 million Caribbean: 200,000
Middle East and North Africa: 470,000
Oceania: 54,000

Compiled from AFP and Reuters by the Daily News staff.