AMSA's World AIDS Day 2007 Actions
|
Don't forget, World AIDS Day is important, but one day a year is NOT enough. Check out the AIDS Advocacy Network for information on how you can take action now against the global AIDS pandemic and fight for global health equity. UPDATE ON GLOBAL AIDSSETTING THE STAGE FOR WORLD AIDS DAY 2007 Right before World AIDS Day, UNAIDS came out with new estimates of the scale of the global AIDS pandemic. This new data-more accurate due to improved sampling methods, mathematical extrapolation, etc.-indicates that instead of the 40 million people thought to be living with HIV worldwide, the actual number is only 33.2 million. Experts believe that the number of new HIV infections per year peaked in the late 1990's and have continued to decrease from 3.2 million in 2001 to 2.5 million in 2007; this decline is attributed both to global prevention efforts and the natural history of the virus itself. Of course these new data are good news, but it is difficult to use the world "only" for 33.2 million people worldwide who are infected and the countless others affected by the pandemic. Despite the hope inspired by declining HIV infections, here are some things we need to keep in mind about what this new data shows: |
QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, SUGGESTIONS?
WORLD AIDS DAY 2007 MATERIALS |
- AIDS is still a leading cause of death worldwide and is the number one cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa
- The pandemic still disproportionately affects certain populations (truly a demonstration of the lack of global health equity)
- More than 95% of HIV+ individuals live in a low- or middle-income country
- Gender inequalities persist with women representing 61% of the HIV+ population in sub-Saharan Africa and their share rising in Latin America, Asia, and Eastern Europe
- Youth ages 15-24 are disproportionately impacted by the AIDS pandemic, accounting for 40% of new HIV infections; again, a high proportion of this burden is borne by young women.
- Despite the overall decrease in new infections over the past years, some areas of the world have seen a drastic rise, such as Eastern Europe & Central Asia where new HIV infections have increased by 150% since 2001. Approximately 62% of these infections are attributed to injecting drug use.
- Only 8% of injection drug users have access to HIV prevention services
- We as health care providers are failing to provide adequate health services to allow people to know their HIV status and prevent transmission to others if positive:
- Most people are unaware of their HIV status: in high prevalence countries in sub-Saharan Africa only 12% of men and 10% of women were reached by HIV testing
- Only 11% of HIV+ pregnant women received antiretrovirals to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV (!?)
In spite of these persisting inequities, new data from UNAIDS is encouraging for the fight against global AIDS. However, by no means does this small victory warrant scaling back our prevention and treatment efforts. On the contrary, this is the time to capitalize on our successes and turn the tide against global AIDS by stepping up evidence-based prevention, guaranteeing access to antiretroviral treatment, and caring for this impacted by the pandemic.
More on recently released UNAIDS global AIDS statistics:
- UNAIDS 2007 AIDS Epidemic Update
- Q&A about new UNAIDS statistics on global AIDS
- Kaiser Family Foundation Fact Sheet on AIDS Epidemic Update
AMSA'S MESSAGE FOR WORLD AIDS DAY 2007: REFORM PEPFAR!
What is PEPFAR?
The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is the U.S. global AIDS initiative put forth by President Bush in 2003 that committed $15 billion over 5 years (2004-2008) to fight global HIV/AIDS. This legislation coordinated the U.S. efforts in fighting global AIDS and set out to put 2 million people on AIDS treatment, prevent 7 million new HIV infections, and care for 10 million people impacted by the pandemic.
The bill that enacts PEPFAR is up for reauthorization right now. Currently Congress is drafting PEPFAR II which will then need to be passed by the House and Senate and approved by the next President before being put into law. Right now PEPFAR II is the most important piece of legislation impacting global AIDS because it will decide the U.S. funding level and strategy for fighting the pandemic for the next five years (2009-2013). This means the time is now to advocate for changes to PEPFAR II to ensure that it goes to the maximum possible benefit for those infected and affected by the virus.
What do we want changed in PEPFAR II?
- The U.S.'s fair share of funding: at least $50 billion over the next five years to fight global AIDS
The World Health Organization (WHO) calculated that the U.S.'s fair share contribution to fight the global AIDS pandemic (based on our gross domestic product) is at least $50 billion--anything less is insufficient funding. Earlier this year President Bush announced that his proposal for PEPFAR reauthorization that would give $30 billion over the next 5 years. He claimed that this amount was doubling the $15 billion from the previous 5 years, yet in 2007 alone we spent almost $6 billion. Thus, if we continue the current $6 billion over the next 5 years, $30 Billion is actually FLAT FUNDING ($6 billion X 5 years = $30 billion, get it?). The $50 billion is necessary to ensure that the U.S. continues to support at least 1/3 of the world's people in clinical need of treatment (about 4 million people) and contributes our fair share to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria (at least $8 billion by 2013).
- Commit $8 billion of PEPFAR reauthorization funds to increasing human health capacity, including improved training and retention efforts
Africa experiences approximately 25% of the world's health burden, yet has only 2.7% of the health workers to respond to this massive need. Despite this well known health care worker crisis, PEPFAR has no specific plan to build human health capacity and may even make the situation worse by drawing existing health professionals out of the public health system, instead of training new workers. In order to successfully curb the AIDS pandemic we must target funds to train and retain local health care workers. This investment in human health care capacity is necessary to carry out the prevention, treatment, and care programs supported by PEPFAR and create a sustained, country-driven response to the AIDS pandemic.
- Removal of the 1/3 abstinence-until-marriage earmark on prevention funding
The requirement by Congress that at least 33% of U.S. global HIV prevention funding be restricted to abstinence-until-marriage (only A and B of the ABC's) is costing lives. These programs do not address the realities of the populations they target: 80% of new HIV infections among women worldwide result from sex with their husbands or primary partners. Independent evaluations of PEPFAR by the Institute of Medicine and Government Accountability Office have shown that this earmark prevents programs from responding to local needs on the ground. Prevention programs must be comprehensive and evidence-based; segregating "abstain" and "be faithful" messages from those about condoms and negotiating safer sex leaves already vulnerable population at an even greater risk of infection.
Check out our AMSA PEPFAR PowerPoint presentation, script, and What is PEPFAR? handout to get more information on PEPFAR or educate others on this important piece in the fight against global AIDS.
Visit PEPFAR Watch for updates on Congressional action and more on this important bill.
Presidential Candidate's World AIDS Day Responses
AMSA Takes Action