UNAIDS Press Release - June 1, 2006

Dr Piot stressed: 'The ultimate criterion to judge all AIDS programmes is "Does this work for women and girls?"'

According to the 2006 Report on the global AIDS epidemic released by UNAIDS on 30 May, the eve of the High Level meeting, eleven countries have managed to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV by 20 per cent - the target set in the 2001 United Nations Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. Elsewhere, however, progress has been slow. In 2005, fewer than 10 per cent of pregnant women worldwide received an HIV test. Less than one in ten pregnant women living in low and middle income countries received antiretroviral treatment to prevent HIV transmission to their newborn infants.

At the same time, female infection levels have been rising in every region of the world. Today, almost half of all adults living with HIV (17.3 million) are women - two million more than in 2001. Seventy-four per cent of all young people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa are female.

One reason for this is that women and girls have less access to education and know less about HIV. Two-thirds of young women in sub-Saharan Africa still do not know how HIV is transmitted. In Bangladesh, less than one in five married women surveyed had even heard of AIDS. Another reason is that in many countries, women are unequal partners in marriage or other relationships. In much of Africa and Asia, between 50 and 60 per cent of all women are married before their 18th birthdays - often to older men, who have been sexually active for longer and who are more likely to have acquired sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV. In addition, women are rarely included when AIDS policies and programmes are designed. In less than 10 per cent of countries surveyed by UNAIDS this year, do women participate fully in the development of national AIDS plans.

'Today the Global Coalition is launching its Agenda for Action on Women and AIDS. We highlight three key ways the international community and national governments can address these issues,' said Ludfine Anyango of ActionAid Kenya, a member of the Leadership Council of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS.

The first step is to secure women's rights. Effective implementation of laws and policies that affirm and protect the rights of women are vital for winning the struggle against AIDS. Some countries have passed important legislation on issues such as domestic violence, equality in marriage, HIV-related discrimination, and property and inheritance rights. Yet strategies to enforce these laws and finance their implementation are rarely in place. The second is to review existing AIDS strategies to ensure they work for women, and to invest in scaling up access to services women need - such as education, sexual and reproductive health services, antenatal care, prevention of mother-to-child transmission, and antiretroviral therapy. The Global Coalition also emphasises the need to close the funding gap for microbicide development and the female condom, and calls for increased support for women who care for sick friends and relatives.

The third step is to ensure the full participation of women in national coordinating bodies to ensure that AIDS policies, programmes and strategies work for women. 'In short, if delegates at this week's High Level Meeting are to make the AIDS response work better for women, they must focus on three things: money, laws, and seats at the table,' observed Mary Robinson, Executive Director of Realizing Rights: the Ethical Globalization Institute and member of the Global Coalition's Leadership Council. 'At the same time, they must bear in mind that making the response work better for women is critical to getting ahead of the AIDS epidemic as a whole.'

***

Contact

Sarah Russell | russells@unaids.org | tel. +41 79 475 5552

Sophie Barton-Knott | bartonknotts@unaids.org | tel. + 1 917 379 6948

060601
UN060602

Copyright © 2006 - Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). All rights reserved. UNAIDS articles, which are not formal publications of UNAIDS, may be freely reviewed, quoted, reproduced or translated, in part or in full, provided the source is acknowledged. The documents may not be sold or used in conjunction with commercial purposes without prior written approval from UNAIDS (contact: UNAIDS Information Centre).

AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Boehringer Ingelheim, Bridgestone/Firestone Charitable Trust, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Roche and Trimeris, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2006. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 2006. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .