In a brutal assessment of the current health crisis, the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif warned that more than nine million people do not receive treatment, while 4,000 girls and young women contract the virus each week.
The three-quarters living in sub-Saharan Africa, she noted, reminding the Member States that while HIV is “Completely treatable and avoidable … The world is off -piste in the final aid.“”
Stigmatization of the food crisis
“Stigmatization and discrimination prevent concrete progress and pave the way for a resurgence of infections,” said Ms. Al-Nashif.
“” Together, we have the power and the responsibility to change this. When human rights are promoted, health is protected.“”
Other speakers have echoed the need for human rights approaches to ensure universal access to treatment. They have warned that discrimination and harmful laws targeting marginalized communities hinder access to prevention, tests and care.
Keep rights to the heart
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 problem of human rights”.
In many countries, criminalization, stigma and discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, drug use and sex work continue to obstruct the efforts to response to HIV, with deadly consequences.
GNP +, an NGO collecting data on stigma since 2008, interviewed 100,000 people in 100 countries. The results: almost one in four respondents experienced a stigma linked to HIV.
Break the barriers
“” To put an end to aid for good, we must disassemble the barriers linked to human rights which prevent certain populations from accessing the services they need and to fight against deep gender inequalities and the underlying inequalities that conduct very different health results, “said Vuyiseka Dubula, community, rights and gender of the global fund to combat AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Ms. Dubula, who lives with HIV in South Africa, noted that if global progress has been significant – new infections of 61% and AIDS deaths linked to 73% in more than 100 countries in the past two decades – there is still a lot of work to do.
“This is something that we must be proud, but we can go even further in the next five years if we really focus on the end of HIV,” said Dubula, referring to the Sustainable Development Objective (SDG3) by ensuring a healthy life for everyone.
Compassion on cruelty
Adeeba Kamarulzaman of the World Health Organization (WHO)) The Science Council and the Global Council on inequalities, AIDS and Pandemias have echoed the need for more compassionate methods to fight against the epidemic.
She underlined Malaysia, her country of origin, which once faced a devastating epidemic of HIV but has since made significant progress.
In countries decriminalizing the consumption of drugs, knowledge of HIV status is 15% higher and the incidence of HIV is five percent of decline, she explained, adding that in places where sex work is decriminalized, infection rates are still reduced by 4.5%.
“” When we choose compassion rather than cruelty, when we invest in people instead of punishing them, we save lives,“Said Dr. Kamarulzaman.
Persistent discrimination
Erika Castellanos, a transgender woman and executive director of Global Action for Trans Equality, spoke of her experience in Belize, where LGBTIQ + people had up to 10 years in prison before 2016. Even after the cancellation of the law, little changed.
“Stigmatization, discrimination and institutional obstacles persist in systems that refuse us dignity, in services that exclude us and in societies that still consider us less human,” said Castellanos, who has lived with HIV for 20 years.
“I am here because of the hard work, sweat, blood and tears of countless people, many of whom have not survived this epidemic,” she said Human Rights Council.
“” I am alive – because of a HIV answer that appreciated my life.“”
We acknowledge The European Times for the information.
