Partners will advocate for increased funding and price reductions, strengthen efforts to ensure highest quality diagnostic services and forge partnerships to close diagnostic access gaps.   

MEBOURNE/GENEVA, 23 July 2014—The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has joined with global and regional partners to launch the Diagnostics Access Initiative which calls for improving laboratory capacity to ensure that all people living with HIV can be linked to effective, high-quality HIV treatment services.

Partners in the initiative include UNAIDS, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Clinton Health Access Initiative, the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM), UNICEF, and the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

"Around 19 million of the 35 million people living with HIV don’t know they have the virus. If they don’t find out they will die,” said Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director. “This is why we have to make it simpler for people to test for HIV to be able to start lifesaving treatment when they need it.”

The Diagnostics Access Initiative specifically focuses on ensuring that at least 90% of all people living with HIV know their HIV status. It also aims to ensure that all people accessing HIV treatment have ready access to tests that monitor the levels of the virus in their bodies.

For treatment to be optimally effective, it is essential that all people accessing HIV treatment monitor their viral load frequently. Currently very few high-burden countries routinely offer viral load testing to people receiving HIV treatment. New viral load testing technologies which are made available when people first come in for care, offer promise for expanding access to viral load testing. However they will need to be affordable, appropriately deployed and used effectively.

“To achieve control of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, it’s essential that all people have access to high-quality HIV laboratory services, both for accurate HIV diagnosis and treatment monitoring.  Building a country’s capacity for virologic testing is critical for early identification of virologic failure, drug resistance and overall improved impact of the country’s HIV care and treatment programs,” said Ambassador Deborah Birx, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator. “The Diagnostic Access Initiative represents an important step in ensuring the close collaboration among all donors and stakeholders to expand access and enable strategic scale-up of HIV laboratory services.”

To ensure early diagnosis of HIV, laboratory procedures need to be simplified and multiple testing tools and strategies made available. These also need to be integrated into community-centred health campaigns that focus on multiple diseases.

“It is essential that people know whether they have HIV infection, and that people who take treatment know whether their medicines are controlling the virus,” said Dr Hiroki Nakatani, Assistant Director-General, WHO.  “As diagnostic technology changes rapidly, and our Member States need guidance on how to use it, WHO will play a key role in this initiative.”

HIV treatment is effective in reducing HIV-related illness and AIDS-related deaths. It also helps to prevent new HIV infections, by sharply suppressing viral load and decreasing the risk of HIV transmission.

“The Diagnostic Access Initiative focuses urgent attention on the importance of developing new, affordable viral load and infant diagnosis technologies and effectively using the laboratory capacity we currently have,” said Dr. Tsehaynesh Messele, Chief Executive Officer of ASLM. “Effectively using existing and emerging viral load and infant diagnosis technologies will demand substantially stronger laboratory capacity as well as strategic planning to ensure that all technologies are optimally used.”

Partners in the initiative will advocate for greater funding for laboratory services and for the development of new diagnostic tools. They will also strengthen efforts to ensure that diagnostic services are of the highest quality and forge well-coordinated partnerships to close diagnostic access gaps.

Report shows prevention R&D funding falls 4% due to public sector research budget reductions in US, Europe

Melbourne, Australia, 18 July 2014 – Investment in HIV prevention research fell US$50 million, or 4 percent, to US$1.26 billion in 2013, due to declining investments by the United States and European government donors, changes in the international development landscape and changes in the pipeline of HIV prevention products in various stages of development and implementation, according to a new report from the HIV Vaccines and Microbicides Resource Tracking Working Group.

HIV Prevention Research & Development Investment in 2013: In a changing global development, economic, and human rights landscape is the tenth annual report by the Working Group, a collaboration between AVAC, UNAIDS, and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI). The report summarizes investment in HIV prevention research across seven prevention options. The report was released today ahead of the 20th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2014) in Melbourne, Australia. Breakdowns by prevention modality are available in the full report at www.hivresourcetracking.org.

Despite overall US budget cuts in 2013 and a decline in support for HIV prevention research, the US government remains the single largest funder of prevention research, accounting for more than 70 percent of total investment over the past five years. The US contribution decreased US$44 million to US$881 million in 2013, largely due to automatic, across the board cuts to all federally funded programs as a result of sequestration. Funding from European government donors, including 12 countries and the European Commission, was also reduced as priorities for international development in some countries have continued to shift.

“Research and development has produced a valuable range of medicines, diagnostics and devices to prevent and treat HIV which have to be made more widely available. However, funding is declining at a time when services need to be expanded and better treatments and additional HIV prevention options are needed,” said Luiz Loures, Deputy Executive Director, UNAIDS. “Now is not the time to pull back from science, but rather to push forward towards ending the AIDS epidemic.”

Investment declined in research & development related to voluntary medical adult male circumcision (VMMC) and female condoms, both options that have long been proven effective and are now being scaled-up as part of broader HIV prevention programs. Investment increased for R&D related to treatment as prevention (TasP) and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which have more recently proven effective and now require additional research to support wide scale implementation.

Vaccine R&D in 2013 also saw the largest real decrease in investment since such research began, with the effects of U.S. sequestration, reduced bilateral funding from European governments, and the lack of large efficacy trials in the latter part of the year accounting for much of the decline. Substantial public sector funding cuts and dropped support from past philanthropic funders also played a role in the more pronounced decline for microbicides funding, which still drew heavily on the US government for support even as its contributions declined.

“There is a growing consensus that we can end the AIDS epidemic if we develop and deploy the right tools and reach those most at risk,” said Mitchell Warren, AVAC Executive Director. “But we won’t be able to make a sustained impact on the cycle of new infections without development and aggressive rollout of new prevention options – voluntary medical male circumcision, PrEP, treatment as prevention, microbicides and eventually vaccines. We need sustained and flexible funding to ensure that we efficiently develop new options, demonstrate how proven options can be rolled out and deliver what we know works.”

The decline in prevention funding comes within a changing and very challenging human rights environment. Harsh new anti-homosexuality laws and other legislation criminalize those most at risk from HIV/AIDS and make it increasingly difficult to answer critical questions supported by HIV prevention R&D, such as how to meet the needs of men who have sex with men, transgender people, sex workers, people who inject drugs and other populations most affected by HIV. This will continue to have an impact on how those trials are funded and where they can be conducted.

"A combination of long-term vision, scientific innovation and generous funding has eradicated smallpox, is close to eradicating polio, and has brought us to an era in which a positive HIV test is no longer an automatic death sentence," said Margie McGlynn, IAVI President & CEO. "A vaccine will be essential to the global, comprehensive response that can end AIDS once and for all, and sustained and broadened support will be crucial to its development."

The report is online at www.hivresourcetracking.org.

The HIV Vaccines and Microbicides Resource Tracking Working Group is composed of AVAC, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). The Working Group has been tracking investment in HIV prevention research since 2004.

Actual disbursements in 2013 increased 8% as some funds from earlier years were spent

MELBOURNE, Australia, 17 July 2014 – Donor governments in 2013 committed US$8.1 billion in new funding to support the AIDS response in low- and middle-income countries, down 3 percent from 2012, finds a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) released in advance of the 2014 International AIDS Conference.

The drop in new commitments occurred even though actual disbursements for HIV increased to $8.5 billion in 2013, up 8 percent from 2012.  The increase in disbursements was driven largely by the accelerated release of prior-year commitments by the United States, the world’s largest donor, the report finds.  More recent U.S. budgets, however, committed fewer resources for this purpose.

“Going forward, it’s uncertain whether the U.S. can maintain this level of funding for global HIV,” said Kaiser Family Foundation Vice President Jen Kates, director of global health and HIV policy. “Other countries, including donors and recipients, may need to increase their contributions to sustain the global effort.”

“Ending the AIDS epidemic will only be possible if donors and countries most affected by HIV remain steadfast in scaling-up funding over the long term,” said Luiz Loures, Deputy Executive Director, UNAIDS. “Commitments need to be made to securing funding for quality HIV prevention efforts and to assuring life-long access to antiretroviral therapy for everyone in need.”

In 2013, the U.S. government disbursed a total of US$5.6 billion towards the AIDS response in low- and middle-income countries and to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund), up US$600 million (12%) from US$5 billion in 2012.

In addition to the U.S., four of the 14 donor governments assessed – Australia, Denmark, France, and the U.K. – increased total assistance for HIV in 2013. Four donor governments decreased funding in 2013: Canada, Italy, Japan, and the Netherlands. In the case of the Netherlands, the decrease is due to a shift in support from bilateral HIV funding to the Global Fund. For five donor governments – Germany, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, and the European Commission – support remained flat.

The United States accounted for nearly two-thirds (66.4%) of total disbursements (bilateral and multilateral) from donor governments. The United Kingdom was the second largest donor (10%), followed by France (4.8%), Germany (3.4%), and Denmark (2.3%).

The new report, produced as a partnership between the Kaiser Family Foundation and UNAIDS, provides the latest data available on donor funding based on data provided by governments who are members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee. It includes their bilateral assistance to low- and middle-income countries and contributions to the Global Fund as well as UNITAID.

The full analysis is available online.

African Union, UNAIDS, UNECA, UNIDO convene event with African finance ministers

GENEVA/ABUJA, 29 March 2014—African leaders and key multilateral organizations are strengthening and broadening support for the local production of essential medicines on the continent. This was one of the key outcomes of the Seventh Joint African Union (AU) Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development held in Abuja, Nigeria, from 25 to 30 March.

On the sidelines of the annual conferences, the AU, UNAIDS, UNECA and UNIDO held a high-level meeting, Local Manufacture of Pharmaceuticals: an Untapped Opportunity for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development in Africa, with African ministers of finance and economic planning. The event highlighted the opportunities for developing a high-quality pharmaceutical industry in Africa, which will bring important health and economic development benefits.

African Union Commission Deputy Chairperson, Erastus Mwencha stressed the benefits of the local production of medicines. “Local production of generic medicines promises affordability and availability of needed drugs, employment opportunities and overall public health benefits, including shortened supply chains, hence helping to reduce stock outs, as well as enhancing the capacity of local regulatory authorities to oversee the quality standards of essential medicines for their countries.”

The Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa business plan, the Action Plan for the Accelerated Industrial Development of Africa and the AU Roadmap on Shared Responsibility and Global Solidarity for AIDS, TB and Malaria Response in Africa have been endorsed by African Heads of State and Government as strategic continental frameworks for developing the pharmaceutical sector from both the public health and industrial development perspectives.

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé welcomed the broader support from financial and industrial leaders for the local manufacture of medicines. “The time for Africa to break its dependency on foreign imports is now. The local manufacture of pharmaceuticals in Africa is an opportunity to develop a broader manufacturing and knowledge-based economy,” he said.  

Mr Sidibé called for a major continental meeting before the end of 2014 on local production with ministers of finance, trade, industry and health, regional economic communities and the pharmaceutical industry.

Africa is the continent most affected by the AIDS epidemic, but remains hugely dependent on imported pharmaceutical and medical products. It is estimated that more than 80% of antiretroviral medicines (ARVs) medicines are imported from outside Africa. Local production of ARVs is vital to secure continued access to life-saving treatment for the 7.6 million people already accessing ARVs in Africa and the millions more, who still need access to treatment. Local production is important not only for the AIDS response, but for other existing and future health challenges faced by the continent.

UNECA Executive Secretary Carlos Lopes said “We must develop a business case if we want to convince African banks to invest in the pharmaceutical industry.”

The immense need for ARVs and other medicines presents a big market opportunity for pharmaceutical companies on the continent. Total pharmaceutical spending for the continent in 2012 was estimated at US$ 18 billion and is expected to reach US$ 45 billion by 2020.

The Director General of UNIDO, LI Yong, is committed to working in partnership with key continental stakeholders. “Together, we can develop the pharmaceutical industry in Africa; this will contribute to improved public health and will help alleviate human suffering. In line with our mandate to promote inclusive and sustainable industrial development, we will support efforts to enhance public health and enable populations to be increasingly economically productive through the development of viable high-quality industries in this important knowledge-intensive sector in Africa.”

The challenges the pharmaceutical industry faces in upgrading facilities and production practices in Africa include the requirement for large capital investments and the need for experts, specially trained workers, increased regulatory oversight and regulatory harmonization at the regional and continental levels in order to create bigger markets. However, there is growing consensus that strengthening the local production of essential medicines is a priority, along with advancing industrial development and moving the continent towards sustainability of treatment programmes for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, and improving access to safe and effective medicines to treat a broad range of communicable and non-communicable diseases.

African Union

The African Union spearheads Africa’s development and integration in close collaboration with African Union Member States, the Regional Economic Communities and African citizens.  The AU Vision is that of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in global arena. Learn more at: http://www.au.int/en

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners to maximize results for the AIDS response. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

UNECA

ECA's mandate is to promote the economic and social development of its member States, foster intra-regional integration, and promote international cooperation for Africa's development. ECA’s policy work aims to shape Africa’s transformation by supporting a growth path which addresses the vulnerabilities that impact on people’s lives. ECA’s strength derives from its role as the only UN agency mandated to operate at the regional and subregional levels to harness resources and bring them to bear on Africa's priorities.

UNIDO

The mandate of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is to promote and accelerate inclusive and sustainable industrial development in developing countries and economies in transition. In recent years, UNIDO has assumed an enhanced role in the global development agenda by focusing its activities on poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability. The Organization draws on four mutually reinforcing categories of services: technical cooperation, analytical and policy advisory services, standard setting and compliance, and a convening function for knowledge transfer and networking. UNIDO's vision is a world where economic development is inclusive and sustainable and economic progress is equitable.

GENEVA, 28 March 2014—UNAIDS welcomes the recent lifting of all restrictions on entry, stay and residence for people living with HIV in Tajikistan. The amendments to the Law on HIV/AIDS were signed by the President of Tajikistan Emomalii Rahmon, on 14 March 2014.

Restrictions that limit an individual’s movement based solely on HIV-positive status are discriminatory and violate human rights. There is no evidence that such restrictions protect public health or prevent HIV transmission. Furthermore, HIV-related travel restrictions have no economic justification, as people living with HIV can lead long and productive working lives.

Tajikistan’s updated law removes mandatory HIV testing for all foreigners, including the personnel of foreign missions, refugees and stateless people. With these changes, all HIV-related restrictions on entry, stay and residence are eliminated in Tajikistan. UNAIDS will continue to work with Tajikistan to support a comprehensive and human rights-based response to the HIV epidemic.

With the removal of Tajikistan’s restrictions, UNAIDS counts 40 countries, territories, and areas that impose some form of restriction on the entry, stay and residence based on HIV status. 

GENEVA/JOHANNESBURG, 5 March 2014—The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), in cooperation with the Tobeka Madiba Zuma Foundation (TMZF) and the South African Football Association Development Agency (SDA),  have announced the kick-off of the Protect the Goal world tour. Protect the Goal, which was first launched at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, is a campaign to raise awareness around HIV prevention and encourage young people to get actively involved in both the national and global response to HIV.

“I'm honored to join forces with SDA and UNAIDS in the AIDS response," said Madame Tobeka Madiba Zuma, whose foundation is a co-sponsor of the Protect the Goal campaign. "I want to help reach as many young people around Africa as I can. While we need to begin with HIV awareness, we also need to deliver HIV testing and treatment to many young people who need our help."

The official world tour kick-off event was held at the Soccer City Stadium, the largest stadium in Africa, during the South Africa-Brazil international friendly game. The world tour will continue its journey through the five African countries—Algeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria—whose national teams have qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

The event also provided an opportunity to announce Kweku Mandela and Ndaba Mandela as global spokespersons for Protect the Goal. The objectives of the campaign are to use the popularity and convening power of sport to unite the world for the goal of an AIDS-free generation. The campaign also raises awareness and support for UNAIDS’ vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths.

“We are proud to be working with our South African partners in a rapidly evolving environment for mobilizing the global football community against AIDS,” said Dr. Djibril Diallo, Senior Adviser to the Executive Director of UNAIDS.

The campaign has garnered support from around the world. UNAIDS has signed cooperation agreements with the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), South American Football Association (CONMEBOL), and Asia Football Confederation (AFC).

In Africa, UNAIDS and partners, including youth leaders, have disseminated HIV prevention messages on large electronic screens to football fans in stadiums and fan zones during games, including the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Africa’s most prestigious football tournament.

In Asia, UNAIDS, in cooperation with the Asian Football Confederation and the Asian Development Bank, are engaged in a partnership to enhance awareness of HIV, improve access to HIV prevention and treatment, and work to eliminate HIV-related stigma and discrimination in five pilot countries, Myanmar, Cambodia, Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand.

CONCACAF, the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football, has also promoted the campaign in the framework of major sporting events. During the Gold Cup soccer tournament the captains of the national football teams of the United States and Panama pledged to raise awareness of HIV in the football community.

Globally, an estimated 5.4 million adolescents and young people are living with HIV, and 1.8 million are eligible for HIV treatment. Millions of young people living with HIV do not know they living with the virus, and every day, approximately 2100 adolescents and young people become newly infected, which accounts for 36% of all new HIV infections globally.

As part of the Protect the Goal Campaign, UNAIDS, TMZF, SDA and Grassroot Soccer, a South African-based, non-profit organization that uses football to educate young people about HIV, will stage a promotional event at the Alexandra Football for Hope Centre on 6 March. The centre provides young people with a safe space to learn about HIV prevention. As part of the event branded footballs of the Protect the Goal campaign will be distributed to underprivileged communities. 

GENEVA, 4 March 2014 – The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to advance efforts in scaling up access to HIV testing and treatment. The IFRC and UNAIDS will combine expertise and capacity to support the implementation of UNAIDS’ Treatment 2015 initiative and develop a community model for delivering scaled-up access to HIV treatment.

In the 2011 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS, United Nations Member States committed to working towards ensuring 15 million people living with HIV have access to antiretroviral treatment by 2015. By the end of 2012, around 10 million people had access to the lifesaving treatment—three quarters were in Africa

“Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers deliver health services to millions of people, including some of the most marginalized people in hard-to-reach communities,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “By supporting the volunteers, engaging people living with HIV and strengthening community-based services I strongly believe we will be able to exceed the target of reaching 15 million people with treatment by 2015.”

It is estimated that only half of all people living with HIV are aware of their HIV status, highlighting the urgent need to expand access to HIV testing services. Voluntary and confidential HIV testing is central to UNAIDS’ Treatment 2015 initiative. The initiative outlines three fundamental pillars essential to reaching the 2015 target; Demand––increasing demand for HIV testing and treatment services; Invest––mobilizing resources and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of spending; and Deliver––ensuring more people have equal access to HIV testing and treatment.

"The community health workforce has the capacity to provide almost 40% of HIV service-related tasks,” said Bekele Geleta, Secretary General, IFRC. “Our decades of experience in HIV testing campaigns, treatment adherence and compliance will inform a successful community service delivery model like the one we are developing in Kenya, Malawi and Nigeria. The solution is at hand but the time to invest in decentralized services is now if we are to avert millions of deaths by 2015 and beyond.”

UNAIDS is inspired by the incredible response to the first Zero Discrimination Day

GENEVA, 1 March 2014—People from all walks of life and in every region of the world are commemorating Zero Discrimination Day with a wide range of activities. UNAIDS called for the annual event, which is being celebrated for the first time on 1 March.

“Hatred of any kind must have no place in the 21st century,” said the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“Discrimination is a violation of human rights. It is immoral, hurtful and dehumanizing. Yet too many people around the world continue to face unfair, harmful or violent treatment simply because of the circumstances of their birth or environment,” said Dr John Ashe, President of the General Assembly.

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé has expressed his appreciation for the outpouring of support for the campaign. Working with Nobel Peace Prize winner and UNAIDS Global Advocate for Zero Discrimination Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, UNAIDS launched the #zerodiscrimination campaign in December 2013 on World AIDS Day.

“For all who seek a more just world, for all who strive for peace and prosperity—let us start by stopping the inequality and discrimination happening around us,” said Mr Sidibé.

Many government ministries, lawmakers, business leaders and international organizations are supporting the zero discrimination campaign.

“Institutionalized discrimination is bad for people and for societies,” said Dr Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group. “Widespread discrimination is also bad for economies. There is clear evidence that when societies enact laws that prevent productive people from fully participating in the workforce, economies suffer.”

“Achieving zero discrimination is critical for the success of the AIDS response. The International Labour Organization (ILO) is fully committed through its Getting to Zero at Work campaign,” said Guy Ryder, Director-General of ILO.

“Eliminating discrimination is the one step that can enable the world to achieve the UN General Assembly's 2011 target of a 50 per cent reduction of HIV infection among people who use drugs by 2015," said UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov. "Take that step, say yes to #zerodiscrimination, commit, transform and let's reach the target."

The butterfly is widely recognized as a sign for transformation and the campaign has adopted it as the symbol for zero discrimination. People have supported the campaign by taking photographs holding up the butterfly symbol in places across the globe, including snowy mountain tops, office cubicles, amusement parks, fire stations and the world famous carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At a commercial shopping complex in Kandy, Sri Lanka, campaign supporters are organizing a mass photography shoot with the zero discrimination symbol.

The Asia-Pacific Transgender Network has used the occasion of Zero Discrimination Day to produce in partnership with UNAIDS a powerful video about the transgender experience. The Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS is holding a series of country-level and regional dialogues with government, civil society, business and religious groups, as well as young people, on the importance of building solidarity for everyone. The Youth Taekwondo Association of Tajikistan is holding an event called “Sport against stigma and discrimination.”

Many celebrities have recorded video messages or taken photographs with the butterfly, including the global Indian icon and UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, the popular Russian science commentator and naturalist Nikolai Drozdov and the highly acclaimed musician from Mali and International Goodwill Ambassador Toumani Diabaté. The international television broadcaster CNN is supporting the campaign and many local and regional media outlets are featuring discussions on zero discrimination. In Pakistan, Radio Pakistan and PTV World, the country’s only English channel, hosted talk shows with people from key groups who often face discrimination.

More information is available at:

http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/campaigns/20131126zerodiscrimination/

https://www.facebook.com/zerodiscrimination

http://zerodiscrimination.tumblr.com/

#zerodiscrimination

GENEVA, 27 February 2014—UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé launched the Zero Discrimination Day on 27 February with a major event in Beijing, China supported by the China Red Ribbon Foundation, Hanergy Holding Group, Chinese government, civil society and celebrities. Similar events are planned for the days leading up to 1 March 2014 in countries around the world. Zero Discrimination Day is a call to people everywhere to promote and celebrate everyone’s right to live a full life with dignity—no matter what they look like, where they come from or whom they love. The symbol for Zero Discrimination is the butterfly, widely recognized as a sign of transformation.

At the Zero Discrimination Day event in Beijing, Li Hejun, Chairman and CEO of Hanergy Holding Group; Gu Yanfen, General Secretary of the China Red Ribbon Foundation; and Mr Sidibé delivered opening remarks. James Chau, news anchor for the China Central Television and UNAIDS National Goodwill Ambassador, moderated a panel discussion on discrimination. The event ended with more than 30 business leaders signing a pledge to eliminate discrimination in the workplace.

“The AIDS response itself has taught the world tremendous lessons in tolerance and compassion,” Mr Sidibé said. “We know that both the right to health and the right to dignity belong to everyone. Working together, we can transform ourselves, our communities and our world to reach zero discrimination.”    

Working with Nobel Peace Prize winner and UNAIDS Global Advocate for Zero Discrimination Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, UNAIDS launched the #zerodiscrimination campaign in December 2013 on World AIDS Day.

“People who discriminate narrow the world of others as well as their own,” said Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. “I believe in a world where everyone can flower and blossom.”

Many international celebrities have joined the call for zero discrimination, recording video messages and taking photographs with the butterfly sign. The personalities include UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador Annie Lennox, international football star David Luiz, actress and activist Michelle Yeoh and HSH Princess Stephanie of Monaco.

“Hanergy recognizes the right of all employees to live a life of dignity, free from discrimination,” said Mr Li. “With the support of UNAIDS, Hanergy has worked to expand staff training on HIV and discrimination for all employees, and has integrated anti-discrimination content into company recruitment policies.”

The private sector is also playing an important part in commemorating Zero Discrimination Day in South Africa, where as part of a longstanding partnership with UNAIDS, the Standard Bank is conducting a social media drive around the day. The almost 3.5 million subscribers of Airtel, the largest mobile telephone service provider in Malawi will receive a message promoting zero discrimination on 1 March. In Myanmar, two major football teams in collaboration with the Myanmar National Football League and Federation will make a pledge supporting zero discrimination during a match at the national football stadium in Yangon. In Minsk, Belarus, an interactive dialogue on promoting zero discrimination in the region will take place with young people; participants will include pop singer Teo. A similar event organized by people living with HIV as well as lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people will take place in a central park in the city of San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

More information is available at:

http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/campaigns/20131126zerodiscrimination/

https://www.facebook.com/zerodiscrimination

http://zerodiscrimination.tumblr.com/

#zerodiscrimination

Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Michel Sidibé and high-level delegation visit IDP sites

GENEVA/BANGUI, 20 February 2014—The Executive Director of UNAIDS Michel Sidibé has witnessed the desperate conditions for internally displaced people (IDP) in the Central African Republic. He flew to Bossangoa in the northwest part of the country on 20 February with Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos and other senior high-level officials.

Bossangoa has suffered a wave of sectarian violence and the city which once had some 50 000 residents is now nearly empty as people have left their homes to escape the violence between Muslims and Christians. Now most of the city’s former residents live in two separate sites—one for Muslims and the other for Christians.

The delegation visited both IDP sites and Mr Sidibé spoke with Christians and Muslims and met with religious leaders from both faiths. Several attempts by religious leaders have so far failed to bring about reconciliation and people are refusing to return home out of fear of further violence.

“The human suffering and misery must end,” said Mr Sidibé. “We must ensure the existence of minimum security conditions so that people can return to their homes without fear of violence.”

“We are calling for security and protection. We don’t want to leave the Central African Republic and flee to Chad. This is where we have our families and our life,” said the Imam of the Boro district of Bossangoa, Ismaël Naffi.

Life at the IDP sites is hard. While numbers fluctuate, it is estimated about 36 000 Christians are on the grounds of the Catholic mission of Saint Antoine de Padoue––and about 1 200 Muslims are living in a school called “Liberté”. Conditions are very difficult with food, clean water, medical care and proper sanitation in short supply. The coming rainy season is likely to worsen conditions.

“We are speaking in the name of all the people who are still living in abandoned sites and don’t have any recourse,” said the Archbishop of Bangui, Monsignor Dieudonne Nzapalainga. We are asking that a solution is found on the international level so that security returns…so that cohesion returns and each one of us can rebuild this country that we all love.”

According to latest UN reports the unrelenting violence has forced around 700 000 people to flee their homes searching for safety within the country’s borders and many others have crossed the borders into neighbouring countries. There are growing food shortages and increasing numbers of displaced people with acute nutrition needs are arriving in the capital city of Bangui. Life-saving medical and health care services are needed in the most affected areas including essential medicines, laboratory supplies, safe blood and medicines to prevent outbreaks of infectious diseases.  

There is also growing concern over the safety of women and girls as there are an alarming number of reports of sexual attacks in IDP sites.

“It is intolerable that violence stalks women and girls as they try to rebuild their lives in temporary homes,” said Mr Sidibé. “It is already traumatic to be up-rooted by warring militias from familiar communities, and so IDP centres must provide true safe havens for women and girls.”

At the moment there are limited funds for gender-based violence emergency-response efforts and few IDP sites offer adequate medical and psychosocial response services to survivors of violence.

Prior to the start of the current crisis, the country was already struggling with its AIDS response and the ongoing violence is making the situation even more difficult. According to the country’s authorities 125 000 people were living with HIV in 2012, of whom 15 000 were receiving antiretroviral therapy. Since the violence began, two-thirds of people living with HIV on treatment have fled their homes and are no longer able to access the medicines and care they need. There is growing concern that the interruption in treatment will cause a resistance to the life-saving drugs, making future care difficult.