‘Miles to go...’Discrimination continues to hamper response to HIV/AIDS - UNAIDS

‘Miles to go…’Discrimination continues to hamper response to HIV/AIDS – UNAIDS

Jul 19, 2018 News

Discrimination by health-care workers, law enforcement, teachers, employers, parents, religious leaders and community members is preventing young people, people living with HIV and key populations from accessing HIV prevention, treatment and other sexual and reproductive health services.
This state of affairs was yesterday amplified by the United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS [UNAIDS] as it released the 2018 Global AIDS Update ahead of next week’s International AIDS Conference scheduled for Amsterdam, the Netherlands, July 22-27, 2018.
UNAIDS has revealed that across 19 countries, one in five people living with HIV, responding to surveys, reported being denied health care and one in five people living with HIV avoided visiting a health facility for fear of stigma or discrimination related to their HIV status.
In fact, in five of 13 countries with available data, more than 40 percent of people said they think that children living with HIV should not be able to attend school with children who are HIV-negative.
“Communities are echoing UNAIDS’ call,” said Vincent Pelletier, positive leader and Executive Director of Coalition PLUS.
“We need universal access to adapted prevention services, and protection from discrimination. We call upon world leaders to match commitments with funding, in both donor and implementing countries,” said Pelletier.
Considering the information detailed in the Global AIDS Update, UNAIDS warns that progress is slowing and time is running out to reach the 2020 HIV targets. As such the appeal is for the Caribbean, for instance, to accelerate progress to reach the 90-90-90 targets in two years.
Moreover, UNAIDS has issued countries with a stark wake-up call.
In its new report, launched yesterday in Paris, France, at an event co-hosted with Coalition PLUS, UNAIDS warned that the global response to HIV is at a precarious point.
At the halfway point to the 2020 targets, the report, ‘Miles to go—closing gaps, breaking barriers, righting injustices’, warns that the pace of progress is not matching global ambition. It calls for immediate action to put the world on course to reach critical 2020 targets.
“We are sounding the alarm,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS.
“Entire regions are falling behind, the huge gains we made for children are not being sustained, women are still most affected, resources are still not matching political commitments and key populations continue to be ignored. All these elements are halting progress and urgently need to be addressed head-on,” he added.
HIV PREVENTION CRISIS
UNAIDS has revealed that new HIV infections are rising in around 50 countries and global new HIV infections have declined by just 18 percent in the past seven years, from 2.2 million in 2010 to 1.8 million in 2017.
Although this is nearly half the number of new infections compared to the peak in 1996 [3.4 million], the decline is not quick enough to reach the target of fewer than 500,000 by 2020, UNAIDS has noted.
The reduction in new HIV infections has been strongest in the region most affected by HIV, eastern and southern Africa, where new HIV
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‘Miles to go…’Discrimination continues to hamper response to HIV/AIDS – UNAIDS

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