Member nations of the United Nations convened in New York May 31 – June 2 for the 2006 U.N. Special Session on HIV/AIDS to review the original Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS from 2001.  This year's meeting was marked by the significant presence of civil society organizations which was lacking five years ago.  Though able to participate in the session's proceedings, many of civil society's priorities including specific targets regarding universal access and funding commitments and the inclusion of vulnerable populations were not addressed.  The international civil society denounced the meetings as a failure of governments to face the realities of HIV/AIDS.  Commitments were made, however, to address the necessity to focus on women and girls. 
View the final declaration released at the U.N. review. 

(IRIN News ) Health experts are concerned that southern Sudan, emerging from more than two decades of civil war, may experience a major HIV epidemic due to high numbers of refugees returning to the area.  Difficulties in raising awareness and widespread education on HIV/AIDS have many worried.   More than 4.5 million people fled during the civil war, with four million displaced internally and another half a million living as refugees in neighboring Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya, all countries with a high HIV prevalence.

The World Health Organization issued a report saying about 2,000 children of HIV-positive mothers in the developing world are born with the disease on a daily basis because the mothers were not given antiretrovirals during their pregnancy. The lack of progress came in the face of a threefold increase in access to the drugs, the report said.   (MSNBC/Reuters)