In a marked evaluation of the current situation of the health crisis, the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, nothing Al-Nashif warned that more than nine million people do not receive treatment, while 4,000 girls and young women hire the virus every week.
He pointed out that an amazing three quarters of them live in sub -Saharan Africa, remembering the Member States that although HIV is “Completely treatable and preventable … The world is out of course at the end of aid.“
Stigma feeding crisis
“Stigma and discrimination are avoiding concrete progress and paving the way for a resurgence of infections,” said Mrs. Al-Nashif.
“Together, we have the power and responsibility to change this. When human rights are promoted, health is protected.“
Other speakers echoed the need for approaches based on human rights to guarantee universal access to treatment. They warned that discrimination and harmful laws aimed at marginalized communities hinder access to prevention, evidence and attention.
Keep rights in the nucleus
Florence Riako Anam of the global network of people living with HIV (GNP+) cited Nelson Mandela, saying that HIV is “more than a disease, it is a human rights problem.”
In many countries, criminalization, stigma and discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, drug use and sex work continue to obstruct HIV response efforts, with mortal consequences.
GNP+, an NGO that collects data on stigma since 2008, has surveyed 100,000 people in 100 countries. The findings: almost one in four respondents experienced an HIV -related stigma.
Break the barriers
“To end AIDS for good, we must dismantle the barriers related to human rights that prevent certain populations from accessing the services they need and addressing the deep gender inequalities and underlying inequalities that drive clearly different health, “said Vuyiseka Dubula, head of community, rights and gender in the world fund to combat aid, tuberculosis and malaria.
Mrs. Dubula, who lives with HIV in South Africa, said that although global progress has been significant, new infections for 61 percent and death -related deaths at 73 percent in more than 100 countries in the last two decades, there is still a lot of work to do.
“This is something to be proud, but we can go further in the next five years if we are really focused on ending HIV,” said Dubula, referring to the objective of sustainable development 3 (SDG3) to guarantee healthy lives for all.
Compassion for cruelty
ADEEBA KAMARULZAMAN OF THE MOURTH OF SCIENCES OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) AND THE GLOBAL COUNCIL OF IMPENSITION, AIDS AND PANDEMIES ECO THE NEED OF THE NEED METHODS TO ADDRESS THE EPIDEMIA.
He pointed to Malaysia, his country of origin, who once faced a devastating HIV epidemic, but since then has made significant progress.
In countries that dismiss the use of drugs, HIV state knowledge is 15 percent higher and the incidence of HIV is five percent lower, he explained, adding that in places where sex work is decriminalized, infection rates are reduced even more by 4.5 percent.
“When we choose compassion on cruelty, when we invest in people instead of punishing them, we save lives,“Dr. Kamarulzaman said.
Persistent discrimination
Erika Castellanos, a transgender woman and executive director of Global Action for Trans Equality, talked about her experience in Belize, where LGBTIQ+ people faced up to 10 years in jail before 2016. Even after the law was revoked, little has changed.
“Stigma, discrimination and institutional barriers persist in the systems that deny us dignity, in the services that exclude us and in societies that still see us as less than humans,” said Mrs. Castellanos, who has lived with HIV for 20 years.
“I am here for hard work, sweat, blood and tears of countless people, many of whom did not survive this epidemic,” he told the Human Rights Council.
“I am alive, due to an HIV response that valued my life.“
