Just a few days away from the celebration of World AIDS Day 2004, the prestigious medical magazine The Lancet published a document signed by experts from 36 countries who for the first time recognize that abstinence and fidelity are key to stopping the
spread of AIDS. The text is endorsed by 150 specialists and states that "the time has come to unite efforts to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV."

Uganda President Yoweri Museveni, representatives of the World Bank and of the Global Fund for Malaria, Tuberculosis and AIDS, and officials from five UN agencies are among the signers of the statement.

The experts argue that HIV-AIDS has become a health and humanitarian crisis that requires urgent intervention, especially in areas where the disease is prevalent, such as Sub-Saharan Africa.
[LONDON, England, November 29 (CNA); 29Nov04,Abstinence Clearinghouse ]