AFRICA: IRIN HIV/AIDS Update 27 June 2001

New figures on development costs of HIV/AIDS

Right to know about HIV/AIDS

Gay and lesbian activist addresses GA

AIDS orphans must not be left behind

PWA participation vital

New figures on development costs of HIV/AIDS

A new report launched by UNDP on Tuesday warned that poverty reduction efforts in developing countries are being severely undermined by HIV/AIDS. The pandemic is shaving off up to two percent of annual economic growth in the worst affected countries. Some countries will see their total Gross National Product (GNP) shrink by up to 40 percent within 20 years.

The report, 'HIV/AIDS: Implications for Poverty Reduction', suggests a number of priorities for action. They include preventing the collapse of essential public services, adapting poverty reduction efforts to the reality of HIV/AIDS, protecting educational achievements, mitigating the impact on labour productivity and promoting opportunities for women who are carrying the brunt of the burden of HIV/AIDS.

The flow of development aid from rich countries to the 28 countries with the highest adult HIV prevalence rates (excluding South Africa) have fallen by nearly one third since 1992, from US $12.5 to US $8.6 billion, says the report, exacerbating the effects of the disease. "A world that spent an estimated US $500 billion to tackle the elusive Y2K bug on our computers must be able to do more to tackle a tragedy that has already blighted hundreds of million of lives," said UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown.

The world currently spends less than US $2 billion annually on HIV/AIDS prevention and care in developing countries. To launch a meaningful and comprehensive response to fight the epidemic, UNAIDS estimates that US $7-10 billion will be needed annually over the next five years for prevention and care, about two percent of what the world spent on the Y2K bug.

For the full report visit: www.undp.org

Right to know about HIV/AIDS

Emphasising that young people and the behaviours they learn are the key to conquering HIV/AIDS, UNICEF has urged that young people have a right to know the facts about HIV/AIDS so they can take responsibility for their lives and protect themselves and others.

UNICEF said in a statement on Tuesday that a major initiative was needed to overcome social and cultural taboos that limit a frank exchange of information on HIV and AIDS. "Despite the horrendous toll HIV/AIDS is taking in some countries, an incredible number of young people still don't know the very basic facts about the disease," said Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF. "If we don't act immediately and decisively to change that, we are complicit in the pandemic's spread."

Bellamy noted that according to recent research done in the developing world: nearly half of all teenaged girls in 15 countries don't know that a healthy looking person can have HIV/AIDS. In Mozambique (infection rate: 13 percent) 74 percent of girls and 62 percent of boys aged 15-19 are unaware of even a single way to protect themselves. In Zimbabwe (infection rate: 25 percent) more than half of sexually active girls aged 15-19 don't think they run the risk of HIV infection.

Governments have pledged to cut HIV prevalence among 15-24 year olds by a quarter in the most affected countries by 2005, and globally by 2010. They have also undertaken to ensure that, by 2005, at least 90 percent of young people have access to information, education and services to reduce their vulnerability to HIV infection.

Prevention of HIV in young people remains the foremost priority for both UNICEF and the United Nations system in the rapidly expanding effort to break transmission of the disease, the agency said. Nearly half of all new infections occur in people under the age of 18, and there are already some 11 million young people living with HIV.

Gay and lesbian activist addresses GA

Gay and lesbian rights activist Karyn Kaplan finally had her chance on Tuesday to address the official Round Table on HIV/AIDS and human rights at the General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS on Tuesday. Kaplan was the subject of an unedifying fight on Monday following objections by the delegations of Sudan, Syria, Pakistan, Malaysia, Egypt, Libya, Iran and Saudi Arabia that where overturned by a vote.

In her address, Kaplan said: "We have heard much discussion of a "rights-based" response to HIV/AIDS. Such a response is not a luxury. It is indispensable to saving communities, societies and lives."

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission representative added: "All states must learn to see HIV/AIDS as a crisis enabled and exacerbated by other endemic and egregious human rights violations. Wherever people are victimised by stigma or singled out for hate, they are made vulnerable to HIV. Wherever economic or political inequality rends a society, it opens the doors to HIV."

"We stand poised to create a new global fund for HIV/AIDS," Kaplan said. "What will drive its disbursements and determine its priorities? The fund cannot function effectively unless its purpose is made clear: to advance and fulfill the right to the highest attainable standard of health for all human beings, on a global scale. Its work, then, should include making essential medications available to all persons living with HIV/AIDS, as well as redressing the inequities in resources and infrastructure which make health only a delirious and unattainable dream for millions in the developing world."

AIDS orphans must not be left behind

The United Nations and the US government must dramatically increase funds to help AIDS orphans and vulnerable children and designate specific resources to address this immense problem, Save the Children Federation said in a statement on Monday.

"While the UN and numerous other international organisations, plus national governments, including the US and the UK, have increased their funding for AIDS, it is not enough," said Namposya Serpell, AIDS Advisor at Save the Children (US). "Funds must be specifically earmarked for AIDS orphans. We would also like to see expanded organisational teams of experts and managers dedicated specifically to mobilising resources for orphans and vulnerable children, as well as an expanded HIV/AIDS global response."

There are successful community-based programmes throughout Africa, according to Save the Children officials, but they are small in scale and inadequately funded, covering fewer than five-percent of all children affected. A coherent and comprehensive strategy, in addition to a massive infusion of resources, is needed to scale-up these proven initiatives and to make sure the remaining 95 percent of Africa's AIDS-affected children are not left behind.

PWA participation vital

In a dialogue on Tuesday with people living with HIV/AIDS (PWAs), UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the active involvement of PWAs in the fight against the epidemic was "vital".

"In the 20 years since the world first heard of AIDS, you have been at the forefront of the response," Annan told the meeting organised by the Red Cross/Red Crescent and GNP Plus [the Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS]. "The work you are doing with the rest of civil society is a model of the social mobilisation we need. While others may have been hampered by taboo and stigma, yours has often been a lone and courageous voice breaking the silence."

He added: "Now, as the rest of the world's response is beginning to catch up with yours, you are working more and more in partnership with the public and private sectors, using your unique skills and experience to help make programmes more responsive to the needs of local communities. You have understood that partnerships are the way forward. The only way to beat this epidemic is to bring together every sector of society."

"While we know that the involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS is essential to our fight, it can still be difficult - sometimes even dangerous - for them to be active and open about their status. That is why the example set by your partnership is so important," Annan said.