PHA-Exch> Peter Piot to Leave UN AIDS Agency After 13 Years

["Claudio Schuftan" <cschuftan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

From: Vern Weitzel <vern.weitzel@xxxxxxxxx>
crossposted from: "[health-vn discussion group]" <health-vn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601124&sid=aeRQEUt4_Jqs&refer=home

Peter Piot to Leave UN AIDS Agency After 13 Years (Update1)
By John Lauerman

June 10 (Bloomberg) -- Peter Piot, who fought to expand AIDS treatment and prevention in the world's poorest countries, will step down after 13 years as executive director of the United Nations' UNAIDS program.

Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon revealed Piot's decision in an address to the General Assembly at the UN 2008 High-Level Meeting on AIDS today in New York. Piot, 59, who co-discovered the deadly Ebola virus in 1976, said he will give up his position at the end of the year.

Piot's work has helped raise the number of people getting antiviral drugs in poor countries to 3 million, although more than twice as many people go without such treatment, Ban said in his speech. Just seven years ago, only about 200,000 citizens of these nations were getting treatment, most of them in Brazil, and almost none in Africa, Piot said.

``These are hard facts,'' he said in an interview at the UN today. ``There are definitely results on the ground.''

Piot said his biggest accomplishments were to increase attention to AIDS at the UN and in government offices around the world by showing the disease spans health and economics. That led to more money becoming available for prevention and treatment programs, such as the $15-billion U.S. President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief, he said.

``I had three goals when I took this job,'' he said. ``One was to put AIDS on the agenda, two was to form a broad coalition, and three was to mobilize the money.''

Up for Reauthorization

The President's AIDS program, or PEPFAR, is now up for reauthorization by the U.S. Congress. Nations must provide more money and resources to treat and prevent HIV, the virus that causes AIDS and infects more than 33 million people worldwide, Ban said.

``We need more leaders like Dr. Piot in every sector of society,'' he said in his speech. ``Thank you very much for your commitment and leadership.''

Selection of Piot's successor is in the hands of the Chair of UNAIDS Program Coordinating Board, which is currently the U.S., said Mahesh Mahalingam, a UNAIDS spokesman. He said the final decision is up to Ban. Piot, who said he will probably take a job in academia, declined to name a potential successor.