United Nations Family Unites to Commemorate World AIDS Day
UN Family celebrates marked progress in the global HIV response, and joins with Private Industry to address the lingering scourge of stigma
The UN family is joining together to commemorate World AIDS Day and celebrate the remarkable progress of the global HIV response. The recently released Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 2012 World AIDS Day Report shows a significant drop in the number of new infections and a rapid acceleration in numbers of people accessing life-saving treatment.
In his World AIDS Day message, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon noted, “The UNAIDS World AIDS Day Report for 2012 reveals significant progress in preventing and treating HIV/AIDS in the past two years. The number of people accessing life-saving treatment rose by 60 per cent and new infections have fallen by half in 25 countries – 13 of them in sub-Saharan Africa. AIDS-related deaths have dropped by a quarter since 2005.”
UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe echoed the Secretary General’s enthusiasm and thanked those involved in the global HIV response, “To the millions who have come together with compassion and determination on this World AIDS Day, we say your blood, sweat and tears are changing the world. 25 countries have reduced new infections by more than 50%. I want these results in every country. Far fewer people are dying from AIDS.”
Despite this success, the Secretary General noted that there is still much work to be done, particularly with regard to reducing stigma and discrimination among people living with HIV, and communities that are known to have higher HIV prevalence including men-who-have-sex-with men, sex workers and people who use drugs. “I also urge stronger efforts to eliminate the stigma and discrimination that increase risk for vulnerable populations. The Report of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law: “Risks, Rights and Health” emphasizes how outmoded laws, misguided judiciary systems and punitive policing practices – based not on science but on fear and prejudice – fuel the epidemic. We must make information, testing and treatment available to all, so every man, woman and child can enjoy their fundamental right to the medical care and essential services that will end this devastating epidemic,” he said.
Discriminatory laws and policies that ban entrance and residence for people living with HIV (commonly known as “travel bans”) are the target of a new pledge by private industry CEOs to eliminate existing travel bans in 45 countries. Michael Schreiber, Managing Director and Co-President of GBCHealth, whose organization has partnered with UNAIDS and more than 100 CEOs on this pledge said, “On World AIDS Day in 2008, CEOs from more than 100 companies pledged to end workplace HIV discrimination and stigma among their employees. And GBCHealth -- including companies such as Levi Strauss, Pfizer, Orasure and Deloitte -- advocated for the lift of the U.S. HIV travel ban, which finally took effect in 2010. It may be hard to believe but 45 countries still deport, detain or deny entry to people solely because they are living with HIV. HIV travel restrictions do NOT protect public health. Rather, they discriminate, they violate human rights, and they stigmatize 34 million individuals for one reason alone: they are living with HIV.”
Mr. Schreiber continued saying, “HIV travel restrictions also have major ramifications for businesses. In today’s globalized economy, companies have to able to send their workers abroad, regardless of their HIV status. This is a basic reality of today’s highly competitive business world. This is why GBCHealth has joined with UNAIDS Kenneth Cole, CEO of Kenneth Cole Production and Chairman of the Board of amfAR and Chip Bergh President and CEO of Levi Straus to promote the pledge to illuminate these travel bans, by issuing an Op-ed in yesterday’s Huffington Post and purchasing a full page add in the Financial Times.
In addition to addressing the travel ban issue, the UN Family will hear remarks by Micheal Ighodaro, a young African gay man living with HIV, who will discuss how stigma and discrimination, including laws that criminalize HIV transmission and behaviors of most at-risk populations, impact his life and the lives of others like him.
Contact
UNAIDS Washington | Annemarie Hou | tel. +41 79 500 2123 | houa@unaids.org
UNAIDS Geneva | Sophie Barton-Knott | tel. +41 22 791 1697 | bartonknotts@unaids.org
UNAIDS
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners to maximize results for the AIDS response. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.
