The AIDS epidemic has claimed the lives of over 20 million people, and current estimates place the number of people living with HIV at 38 million. Of these, nearly five million were newly infected in 2003 - the greatest number to be infected in a single year since the beginning of the epidemic.

The drug research and production industry is not a cheap one. Several million dollars can go into the development of a new drug. The global pharmaceutical industry insists that patents provide incentive to research and produce more drugs. Were it not for the monopolistic rights that drug companies hold, it would not be worthwhile to invest time and money that it takes to develop new drugs. It is obvious that if these pharmaceutical companies do not produce drugs, there will be no drugs to fight over.

The impact of this pandemic varies in scale within regions; some countries are more affected than others, and within countries there are usually wide variations in infection levels between different areas. UNAIDS produces an annual epidemic update in conjunction with WHO. The 2003 AIDS epidemic update reveals a steady increase both in the number of people living with HIV/AIDS as well number of AIDS related deaths worldwide. Stigma and discrimination surrounding the issue has been a major hindrance to combating the epidemic in all regions.

The rate of increase is significantly higher in the Sub-Saharan region in comparison to the infection rates in other regions. However, the epidemic is rapidly emerging in several other regions. Unsafe sexual practices and injecting drug users are the prime reasons for driving the HIV epidemic upwards.

Efforts are underway, globally, in an attempt to combat the epidemic. Prevention and treatment efforts are being expanded on a continual basis. Political commitment is growing stronger. Funds allocated for this project are increasing. Regardless, when measured against the magnitude of the global epidemic, the efforts currently being invested worldwide to combat HIV/AIDS are simply not enough. We are at the crossroads: we can inch along making miniscule progress or turn around and invest all our knowledge, resources and commitment to fight this pandemic. The choice is, while daunting, clear.