World AIDS Day 2010 calling for Universal Access and Human Rights

The day is also important for remembering and honouring those who have died because of the lack of human rights and access to treatment care and support. The theme for this year’s WAD is “Universal Access and Human Rights,” to address the critical need to protect human rights and attain universal access for all to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. It also acts as a call for countries to remove punitive and other laws that discriminate against people living with HIV.

This World AIDS Day is significant as December 2010 marks the deadline set for universal access to prevention, care and treatment for all those affected. This goal which was set by the G8 in 2005 and then endorsed by all UN Member States at the 2005 UN Millennium Summit, has seen significant progress towards its achievement. Coverage has expanded rapidly in the past few years with an estimated five million people on treatment, as opposed to fewer than 500,000 in 2003. This represents a twelve-fold increase in access to treatment in six years [1]. Whilst gains have been made around treatment there are still over ten million people who urgently need access to life saving Antiretrovirals.

Progress around treatment should not overshadow the importance of prevention. New infections still outstrip the numbers of people on treatment. For every two people on treatment – five more people are infected with HIV.. This clearly shows that there is tremendous work to be done to achieve universal access. Inadequate financial and political support are just a few of the major stumbling blocks to achieving universal access. For more information on Universal Access and human rights see this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwTGEsMgLOw 

World AIDS Day represents an opportunity for civil society to demand that our leaders at all levels are reminded of their commitment to secure universal access for those in need. On December 1, take action and demand human rights for all, especially for women and young women living with HIV. There are many ways to become involved such as:

• Find ways to talk about HIV in open and honest spaces - organise an event in your own organisation to bring awareness to HIV on WAD.
• Work with your local church to ensure that they incorporate human rights based messaging around Universal Access.
• Work with people living with HIV – not only on WAD but as a commitment to the GIPA principle – the greater involvement of people living with HIV.
• Understand your country’s response to HIV and demand action from your government!
• Participate in and organise awareness raising activities.

In 1990, the World AIDS Day theme was Women and Girls . A decade later the World YWCA still calls for urgent action for all women in the AIDS response. The World YWCA continues to advocate for the human rights of women and girls to be upheld, as outlined in the Nairobi 2007 Call to Action on HIV and AIDS. This year, the YWCA movement will mark the day by launching a new campaign that is being supported by the Ford Foundation called "Show us the Money for HIV". As part of this global campaign, the World AIDS Campaign, the World YWCA and the Women Wont Wait Campaign have committed to making a short film called Where did the money go? Women’s Rights and HIV.

The short film focuses on where the money for HIV and women’s rights is and it will highlight three main issues:

^[1]  UNAIDS Outlook Report 2010.