New report confirms that more of the same in the AIDS response will escalate the epidemic
GNP+ calls on high level political commitment to reverse current downward financing trends 25 June 2015 - The Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+) applauds the conclusions of the UNAIDS-Lancet Commission report, Defeating AIDS—Advancing global health, released today. The Commission was tasked with exploring strategies to ensure the vision of the global AIDS movement, Zero new HIV infections, Zero discrimination and Zero AIDS-related deaths , can be realised in the coming decades.
The Commission's report highlights that a human rights and community mobilization approach has been central to the successes of the AIDS response to date, but that failure to fund the AIDS response sufficiently, particularly the contribution of civil society, will have grave and immediate consequences for continued success and sustainability under the Sustainable Development Goals.
Suzette Moses-Burton, GNP+ Executive Director, says, “this report presents two stark and contrasting pictures. If we pursue a downward trend in financing AIDS, we see a devastating slide backward by 2020— an increase in new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths and escalating costs of controlling the epidemic. In the alternative picture, with continued investment in AIDS over the next five years, we see HIV transmission at low endemic levels, AIDS-related mortality significantly reduced and children born HIV free.”
GNP+ calls on leaders to reaffirm their political commitment to reverse the decline in resources available for HIV and AIDS, and to move away from prioritizing countries based national economic classification. The exclusionary prioritization hampers our ability to tackle the disease where funding is most crucial. We also call for continued dialogue between governments and civil society to ensure appropriate financing, particularly core funding, for community-based responses.
The UNAIDS-Lancet Commission, of which GNP+ was a member, commenced in May 2013, and brought together a group of HIV, health and development experts, young people, people living with HIV and affected communities, activists and political leaders to analyse how the AIDS response could evolve in a new era of sustainable development.
Impressively, the UNAIDS-Lancet Commission report makes a strong economic argument for ambitious investment, showing that robust financial investment in the HIV response now will create significant returns later . Each life-year gained in low- and middle-income countries produces significant gains in GDP.
Suzette Moses-Burton adds, “this report makes the case that advocacy deserves investment commensurate with the role it plays in improving health outcomes. With over 10 million people needing antiretroviral drugs today, now is not the time to backtrack on funding and political commitment. We cannot end the AIDS epidemic without that one last push.”
-ENDS-
For more information, please contact:
GNP+: Victoria Clarke, External Relations & Communications Officer
vclarke@gnpplus.net
Office: +31 (0)21 Skype: vclarkegnpplus
The Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+) is the global network for and by people living with HIV. Its mission is to improve the quality of life of people living with HIV. The vision is a powerful and united worldwide social movement of people living with HIV, with their leadership and voices at the centre of the HIV response. GNP+'s objective is equitable access to health and social services for people living with HIV by focusing on social justice, rights and involvement. This will be achieved through GNP's purpose, which is to promote the greater and more meaningful involvement of people living with HIV in programme and policy development (the GIPA principle). For more information, please visit www.gnpplus.net. You can also connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.
"Reproduced with permission - Global Network of People living with HIV (GNP+)"
Global Network of People living with HIV (GNP+)
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