Press release

29 November 2006

World leaders still failing to deliver on funding for HIV/AIDS says ActionAid.

Without urgent action, world leaders will fail to fulfill their promise of delivering universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention and care by 2010, according to the anti-poverty agency ActionAid.

Every day 8,000 people die of AIDS yet the funding gap is still $10 billion a year and only 20% of people living with the virus are receiving treatment.

"More than a year after world leaders committed to universal access there is still no funding plan to finance this goal," says Aditi Sharma, Head of ActionAid’s international HIV/AIDS campaign.

"Governments are in danger of making a mockery of their own commitments. We cannot allow leaders to abandon the fight against AIDS as if it were some passing fashion." 

Africa continues to bear the brunt of the epidemic with 72% of global deaths caused by the virus, according to the latest 2006 UNAIDS report on the Global AIDS Epidemic.

Across Asia, only one in six people are receiving treatment while in India , home to 5.7 million HIV positive people - more than any other country - treatment remains at below 10% of need.

“There is now growing recognition that the fight against AIDS will not be won unless we tackle gender inequality and violence against women and girls. But no government is matching this with adequate funds or a comprehensive programme,” says Christy Abraham, head of ActionAid’s HIV/AIDS work in India .

“ India has taken a step forward with the recent Domestic Violence Act but there is much more to do if we are to advance the sexual and reproductive rights of women and reduce their vulnerability."

This message is underlined by campaigners across India, including teams of young women bikers who are visiting villages and towns, schools and colleges across Maharashtra in a week-long awareness raising rally that culminates in Mumbai on World Aids Day (Dec 1).

Young people between the ages of 15-24 years now account for 40% of the 4.3 million new infections world wide and two thirds of these are young women. But only 20% of all young women understand how to prevent transmission.

Alongside prevention measures, healthcare must be readily available to halt millions of needless deaths, says ActionAid.

“Healthcare is a fundamental right and evidence shows that where there is good access to treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS, prevention initiatives are far more successful,” says Abraham.

“The Government of India has announced Rs 5,800 crore for HIV/AIDS over the next five years but the Health Minister says 75% of this will be spent on prevention. What about all those living with HIV who need treatment to stay healthy?”

AIDS activists across the county say that prejudice against people living with HIV/AIDS at health care centres is a major barrier to effective treatment. They point to a need to invest in training.

“Treatment is often refused or delayed, and many doctors and nurses sadly think little of disclosing HIV status without the patient’s consent,” says Abraham.

“The urgent need for counselling and guidance in hospitals was tragically highlighted by the recent suicide of a man at a hospital in Bangalore when he was informed that he was HIV positive,” she adds.

Kanta a 30 year old woman in Delhi says: “When I was six months pregnant I went to the hospital with severe pain. Doctors tested my blood and declared me HIV positive. ‘There is nothing we can do for you,’ they told me. I had to leave the hospital and lost my baby. I was not even given water to drink. They looked on me as an outcast.”

Niraj Mishra, a former drug user living with HIV now works as a counsellor to injecting drug users.

“Doctors and paramedical staff need counselling and proper training to handle HIV testing and patients, and support to tackle their unfounded fears relating to HIV/AIDS,” he says.

“If it is not deliberate discrimination at hospitals, other factors such as lack of appropriate medicine, or simple equipment like gloves can deny positive people their right to treatment. Governments must be held accountable,” says Abraham.

Ends.

Note to editors:

The ActionAid briefing What will it take? is available from the ActionAid website: www.actionaid.org

For more on the women bikers in Maharashtra : www.actionaidindia.org

World Aids Day Events in India organised by ActionAid and partners include:

1. Hyderabad . ‘Be Bold’ concert on 1 December with a host of celebrities. Organised with the State AIDS Control Society, corporates including Airtel, Ficci and the Satyam Foundation, and NGOS including ActionAid.

2. Maharashtra . Women Bikers riding across the state raising awareness about HIV/AIDS. These young riders are also driving home the message that violence against women is unacceptable.  Five teams of bikers will culminate in Mumbai on 1st December.

3. Kolkatta. HIV/AIDS Film Festival 1-2 December.

4. Karnataka. Play by amateur artists and people living with HIV/AIDS (Dec2) and cultural evening on Human Rights(Dec8)

5. Chennai. HIV/AIDS Film Festival 8-10 December.

6. Orissa. Mass awareness programmes with district level events and temple festivals.

7. Nagaland and Manipur. State wide awareness programmes with rallies, debates, concerts and a talent competition among people living with HIV/AIDS. 
8. Gujarat . Seminar on Violence Against Women living with HIV/AIDS.

ENDS