Kofi Annan presents a stark picture of the situation the world faces as the global Aids pandemic continues to grow. Three years ago governments set themselves a set of time-limited targets for dealing with the disease -- several have not been met. "We're not doing nearly well enough," he says.
Increasingly women are bearing the brunt of the epidemic, a pattern Mr Annan says is terrifying. At least a third of countries don't have policies to ensure women have access to prevention and care --"how can that be allowed?" he says. The international community must work harder on a number of fronts: women and girls need more help to protect themselves against the virus; health systems need to be improved and scaled up to support both treatment and prevention. Leadership, he says, is the key at every level. The responsibility for tackling this crisis goes all the way to the top, in each country of the world.