Governments’ response to HIV/AIDS remains weak: A community evaluation shows a lack of access to HIV prevention and treatment and human rights prote
International Council of AIDS Service Organizations, May 31, 2006
Toronto, CANADA – The world of diplomacy and politics seems to be ignoring the fact that there has been too little progress in reversing the global AIDS epidemic. As governments and civil society come together in New York on 1-2 June, it is clear that many governments are not implementing commitments they made in 2001.
The International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO) released a report today, "Community monitoring and evaluation: Implementation of the UNGASS Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS".
The report, a summary of studies carried out in 14 countries – Cameroon, Canada, El Salvador, Honduras, Indonesia, Ireland, Jamaica, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, Peru, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, and South Africa - highlights the continuing failure of many governments to deliver on their commitments made in 2001.
The study, undertaken by community researchers, found that leadership at the country level is still lacking in most countries; domestic spending on HIV remains too low; and human rights abuses of vulnerable populations continue unabated, denying them access to services and effective tools for preventing HIV infection and to life-saving AIDS drugs that will keep them alive.
“Part of the problem is that many governments have become masters of the rhetoric of rights, with very little effort made in translating them into action. For example, having legal protections against the discrimination of people living with HIV, as many countries do, matters little if governments fail to enforce them. They matter even less while most people living with AIDS are allowed to die while life-saving drugs are kept out of their reach” says Kieran Daly, Director of Policy at ICASO.
This lack of progress in responding to HIV, highlighted in the summary report of the 14 community evaluations, is not a result of the lack of know-how. In 2006 - 25 years since AIDS was first reported - the world has most of the tools needed to reverse the global epidemic.
Unfortunately, many governments are refusing to use these tools. As noted in the UN Secretary General’s March 2006 report on progress in the global response since 2001, “many countries have failed to fulfill the pledges”.
The result is more than 20 million people newly infected with HIV and millions dead. The continued lack of funding and real government commitment to treatment leaves most of those with AIDS to die. People have a right to health, this means people living with HIV have a right to AIDS treatment. While access to antiretrovirals (AIDS drugs) has improved in all the countries evaluated, it is still far from what is needed.
The failure to fulfill the 2001 commitments is made all the worse because many countries have shown that infections can be averted and lives can be saved by implementing programs and interventions that are known to work.
In the recent Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Prevention Policy paper, it was noted that the world could avert 29 million new infections between 2002-2010 by the implementation of a comprehensive HIV prevention package. However, the country evaluations in the ICASO report highlights the fact that with continued human rights abuses, HIV will continue to spread.
As the community researcher in South Africa noted “there is still a huge divide between public policy and public practice that leaves many people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS vulnerable to human rights abuses and HIV infection.”
The key populations that are at most risk of being exposed to HIV are still being denied access to the services that will allow them to protect themselves and to maintain their health. Sex workers, women, injecting drug users, youth and men who have sex with men, and others are facing government sponsored and/or condoned discrimination with policies and laws that continue to undermine the response to HIV.“
ICASO categorically opposes any laws or policies that undermine best practice in public health and/or that violate human rights. This includes, but not limited to, ICASO’s opposition to the US Government’s anti-prostitution legislation that restricts funding and support for sex workers, and to other ideologically-based prevention policies such as abstinence-only approaches and restrictions on the availability of comprehensive sex education, condoms and harm reduction programs”, says Richard Burzynski, Executive Director of ICASO.
He adds that "such policies and restrictions only serve to undermine the response to HIV and to increase the fear, stigma and discrimination of those most vulnerable to exposure to HIV and those most marginalized in society."
The ICASO summary report concludes with 24 recommendations to UNAIDS, governments and civil society organizations on what needs to be done to improve the implementation of the Declaration of Commitment. It is possible.
With added political commitment to address the funding gap, fully implementing what we know works, and properly addressing human rights, the epidemic can be reversed.
A copy of the full report is available at www.icaso.org For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact: Kieran Daly, Director, Policy & Communications International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO) Tel: +1 416 275 8413 Email: kierand@icaso.org
Toronto, CANADA – The world of diplomacy and politics seems to be ignoring the fact that there has been too little progress in reversing the global AIDS epidemic. As governments and civil society come together in New York on 1-2 June, it is clear that many governments are not implementing commitments they made in 2001.
The International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO) released a report today, "Community monitoring and evaluation: Implementation of the UNGASS Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS".
The report, a summary of studies carried out in 14 countries – Cameroon, Canada, El Salvador, Honduras, Indonesia, Ireland, Jamaica, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, Peru, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, and South Africa - highlights the continuing failure of many governments to deliver on their commitments made in 2001.
The study, undertaken by community researchers, found that leadership at the country level is still lacking in most countries; domestic spending on HIV remains too low; and human rights abuses of vulnerable populations continue unabated, denying them access to services and effective tools for preventing HIV infection and to life-saving AIDS drugs that will keep them alive.
“Part of the problem is that many governments have become masters of the rhetoric of rights, with very little effort made in translating them into action. For example, having legal protections against the discrimination of people living with HIV, as many countries do, matters little if governments fail to enforce them. They matter even less while most people living with AIDS are allowed to die while life-saving drugs are kept out of their reach” says Kieran Daly, Director of Policy at ICASO.
This lack of progress in responding to HIV, highlighted in the summary report of the 14 community evaluations, is not a result of the lack of know-how. In 2006 - 25 years since AIDS was first reported - the world has most of the tools needed to reverse the global epidemic.
Unfortunately, many governments are refusing to use these tools. As noted in the UN Secretary General’s March 2006 report on progress in the global response since 2001, “many countries have failed to fulfill the pledges”.
The result is more than 20 million people newly infected with HIV and millions dead. The continued lack of funding and real government commitment to treatment leaves most of those with AIDS to die. People have a right to health, this means people living with HIV have a right to AIDS treatment. While access to antiretrovirals (AIDS drugs) has improved in all the countries evaluated, it is still far from what is needed.
The failure to fulfill the 2001 commitments is made all the worse because many countries have shown that infections can be averted and lives can be saved by implementing programs and interventions that are known to work.
In the recent Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Prevention Policy paper, it was noted that the world could avert 29 million new infections between 2002-2010 by the implementation of a comprehensive HIV prevention package. However, the country evaluations in the ICASO report highlights the fact that with continued human rights abuses, HIV will continue to spread.
As the community researcher in South Africa noted “there is still a huge divide between public policy and public practice that leaves many people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS vulnerable to human rights abuses and HIV infection.”
The key populations that are at most risk of being exposed to HIV are still being denied access to the services that will allow them to protect themselves and to maintain their health. Sex workers, women, injecting drug users, youth and men who have sex with men, and others are facing government sponsored and/or condoned discrimination with policies and laws that continue to undermine the response to HIV.“
ICASO categorically opposes any laws or policies that undermine best practice in public health and/or that violate human rights. This includes, but not limited to, ICASO’s opposition to the US Government’s anti-prostitution legislation that restricts funding and support for sex workers, and to other ideologically-based prevention policies such as abstinence-only approaches and restrictions on the availability of comprehensive sex education, condoms and harm reduction programs”, says Richard Burzynski, Executive Director of ICASO.
He adds that "such policies and restrictions only serve to undermine the response to HIV and to increase the fear, stigma and discrimination of those most vulnerable to exposure to HIV and those most marginalized in society."
The ICASO summary report concludes with 24 recommendations to UNAIDS, governments and civil society organizations on what needs to be done to improve the implementation of the Declaration of Commitment. It is possible.
With added political commitment to address the funding gap, fully implementing what we know works, and properly addressing human rights, the epidemic can be reversed.
A copy of the full report is available at www.icaso.org For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact: Kieran Daly, Director, Policy & Communications International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO) Tel: +1 416 275 8413 Email: kierand@icaso.org
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