Good work must continue says World YWCA as Global AIDS report highlights progress in HIV prevention
UNAIDS has released a comprehensive report days before the start of AIDS 2008 stating that new HIV infections and AIDS related deaths are declining globally. Despite the progress that has been made however, the report acknowledges that the AIDS pandemic is not over for many parts of the world.
According to new data in the UNAIDS ‘ 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic’, there are encouraging signs that increased efforts in prevention and treatment over the last two years are making an impact in infection rates in some areas, particularly among the most at risk populations. Globally, the number of new HIV infections has declined from 3 million in 2001 to 2.7 million in 2007.
The report highlights that condom use is increasing among young people who have multiple partners in many countries. Another encouraging sign is that young people are waiting longer to have sexual intercourse. This has been seen in seven of the most affected countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Uganda and Zambia. However, despite the news that young people are waiting longer before becoming sexually active, many still do not have accurate information on HIV transmission and how to prevent infection. The report points to a recent survey of 15-24 year olds that indicates only 38% of girls could correctly identify how HIV is transmitted, compared to 40% of boys.
“Global HIV statistics highlight that HIV prevention needs to be dramatically scaled up – especially for women and girls,” says World YWCA General Secretary Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda who is currently in Mexico City to ensure women and girls voices are heard at AIDS 2008. “Prevention strategies need to focus on knowledge and condom use. In youth programmes, young women are reflected as an indicator of having accurate information on HIV and AIDS, yet in reality, young women need more than knowledge to protect themselves; they need access to sexual and reproductive services and the ability to negotiate safe sex.”
YWCAs throughout the world run sexual and reproductive health rights training programmes to ensure women and girls have the knowledge and power to protect themselves. For example, in Ukraine, which has the highest number of people living with HIV in Europe, the YWCA of Ukraine has responded to the rising infection rates by holding training workshops to educate young women on HIV and AIDS and empower them to protect themselves from infection. Two-day trainings were recently held for over 250 young women and girls that addressed social, economic and psychological causes of contracting HIV, safe sexual behaviour and sexual health. “ I did not even know women’s condoms exist. We still have so much to learn and we must tell other people, ‘ said a Ukrainian young woman participant.
The UNAIDS report also states that from 2005 to 2007 the percentage of HIV positive pregnant women receiving antiretroviral drugs to prevent mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) went up from 14% to 33%. In this same period the number of new infections among children fell from 410,000 to 370,000. Several countries such as Argentina, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Botswana, Georgia, the Russian Federation and Thailand have achieved close to universal access with more than 75% coverage of PMTCT.
“Although this news is uplifting, the World YWCA continues to advocate for PMTCT programmes to be revised and to ensure mothers are not treated as vessels and vectors, but that through preventing transmission– the woman is also kept alive,” said Sophie Dilmitis, World YWCA HIV and AIDS Coordinator. “Services for treatment and care of women living with HIV must be decentralised to promote marginalised access to services and this way PMTCT programmes can serve as better entry points for care, support and treatment for women.”
Although the report affirms that HIV prevention rates globally are dropping, UNAIDS Executive Director Dr Peter Piot admits there is still a lot more work to be done in the response to HIV. “Gains in saving lives by preventing new infections and providing treatment to people living with HIV must be sustained over the long term,” said Dr Piot. “Short-term gains should serve as a platform for reinvigorating combination HIV prevention and treatment efforts and not spur complacency”.
Gumbonzvanda agrees that the progress must continue, “We must intensify our actions and build on even the smallest gains, ” says Gumbonzvanda, “Even small signs of progress in some areas have to give us hope and new energy, because the road ahead is still very long before we can ever say we have overcome AIDS.”
As the World YWCA attends AIDS 2008 to raise the voices of women and girls, World YWCA President Susan Brenann welcomed the report from UNAIDS. “We are pleased that the report recognises that the status of women in society has an impact on HIV and AIDS,” Brenann said in a press release. “Civil society and women’s organisations like the YWCA must continue to challenge gender roles and cultural practises that put women and girls at risk.”
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