LONDON, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The British politician who was health minister when the AIDs epidemic erupted in the 1980s says the disease remains a challenge for the world in the 21st century.
Speaking to heads of governments from Commonwealth countries in the House of Lords, Lord Norman Fowler said: "Far from AIDS having gone away, it remains a dark cloud over the world and a challenge to us all."
Fowler said only 43 percent of the two million children living with HIV around the world receive antiretroviral therapy, with around 120,000 children a year dying from AIDS-related causes.
In the 1980s when AIDS/HIV became headline news, Fowler was Britain's top health minister.
In his speech Tuesday evening, Fowler said: "It was my challenge to combat HIV and Aids at an early stage. It was both a difficult and at times a heart-rending task. More often than not, contracting HIV was a death sentence.
"We had no drugs or vaccines to help us and the people most affected were young men and women. The one thing that we could do was to warn others in an open and frank public education campaign of the dangers."
Fowler said today that has all changed, with drugs available which not only save life but also ensure long lives
"What I find so indescribably tragic is that in the world today there are still a million deaths a year, and we have almost two million people a year becoming newly infected with HIV."
He said progress depends upon tackling the issue of LGBT rights.
"One thing is quite clear. If there is discrimination, criminal sanctions and stigma, then that is a huge barrier to people coming forward for testing and treatment."
London is currently hosting a heads of Commonwealth meeting which continues until April 20.
