Is the world doing enough to stop AIDS?
The Global AIDS Week of Action 2007 is a great opportunity for activists and people living with the virus in India and around the globe to demand a stronger response, greater accountability and more resources for the fight against HIV and AIDS.
The week also coincides with the run up to the meeting of the leaders of world’s richest nations, meaning it is an opportunity to demand accountability from G8 countries to fund the global fight against HIV and AIDS.
WHY: Last year, activists from 30 countries took coordinated action during the first ever Global AIDS Week of Action. It was the defining mobilisation before world leaders reported back to the UN
on the progress they had made to meet their 2001 commitment on HIV and AIDS. So while in New York our governments boasted of the small gains made, in cities from Abuja to Phnom Penh and Delhi to Lilongwe citizens reminded them of the big losses.
The losses are stark: AIDS kills 8000 people each day and 3 out of 4 HIV positive people still lack access to treatment. While women make up almost 50% of those living with HIV, current AIDS responses do not tackle the violation of women’s rights – a key driver of the pandemic.
More than 5 million people are living with HIV and AIDS in India. According to the latest National Family Health Survey, only 57% of women and 80% of men in India have ever heard of AIDS. Also, only 35% of women and 68% of men know that habitual condom use can lessen the chances of contracting the infection.
In 2005 the world leaders made another landmark promise on “developing and implementing a package for HIV prevention, treatment and care with the aim of coming as close as possible to the goal of universal access to treatment by 2010 for all those who need it”.
To honour this ambitious promise and stop the needless deaths of women, men and children, our governments have to set and meet ambitious targets for access to treatment as well as prevention. Multinational drug companies must stop putting profits before people. And rich nations such as the G8 must back their warm words on AIDS
with real funds.
WHAT: To mark the Global AIDS Week of Action in India, ActionAid and partner organisations have planned a wide range of events, including marches, candlelight vigils, and public hearings with
Parliamentarians in major cities across the country. Hundreds are expected to attend these events in solidarity with those living with the virus, and also hand over memorandums of demands to government authorities.
WHEN: The Global AIDS Week of Action from 20-26th May 2007 is an opportunity for activists around the world to stand together, generate political pressure and demand action from our leaders. The
week starts with the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial Day on 20 May – a Sunday when the world recognizes and remembers those who have died of AIDS. The week of action is also just days before the club of rich nations (G8) meet in Germany and discuss the universal access goal – let them know that the world is watching to see if they put money where their mouth is.
