UN says mother-child HIV can be eliminated by 2015

GENEVA — The United Nations says mother-to-child HIV transmission can be eliminated by 2015 if health programs receive increased investments as planned.

Michel Sidibe, the head of UNAIDS, appealed to government and private donors to keep investing in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

Michel D. Kazatchkine, the Global Fund's executive director, said Monday "it is also now possible to imagine a world with no more malaria deaths."

The Global Fund is meeting in The Hague, Netherlands, on March 24 to examine how it can meet its goals eliminating or reducing instances of the three diseases by 2015.

It estimates that between $13-20 billion are needed for the period 2011-2013.