UNAIDS
Launches Gender Equality Plan, IAS Presents Research Agenda for
HIV/AIDS among Women and Children
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In recognition of International Women's Day on March
8 (and leading up to National
Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on March 10),
UNAIDS has launched a 5-year initiative to address worldwide
gender inequality and human rights violations, including
sexual violence, that increase women's and girls' vulnerability
to HIV/AIDS. In addition, the International AIDS Society
(IAS) -- in conjunction with UNAIDS, UNICEF, and a dozen
other leading public and private organizations -- have
released a new research agenda designed to advance global
responses to HIV among women and children. |
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Below
are media announcements from UNAIDS and IAS describing the new
initiatives.
The
full UNAIDS
Agenda for Action and IAS
Consensus Statement are available online.
UNAIDS
Takes Action to Empower Women and Girls to
Protect Themselves from HIV
UN
to support civil society and governments to address gender inequalities
and human rights violations that continue to put women and girls
at risk of HIV infection.
 New
York/Geneva -- March 2, 2010 -- UNAIDS, together with celebrated
artist and activist for women and HIV, Annie Lennox, has launched
an Agenda for Accelerated Country Action for Women, Girls,
Gender Equality and HIV (2010-2014), which has been developed
to address gender inequalities and human rights violations that
continue to put women and girls at risk of HIV infection.
The
five-year action plan was launched at a high-level panel during
the 54th meeting on the Commission on the Status of Women, being
held in New York until 12 March. It calls on the UN system to
support governments, civil society and development partners in
reinforcing country actions to put women and girls at the centre
of the AIDS response, ensuring that their rights are protected.
"Violence
against women is unacceptable and must not be tolerated,"
said Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director. "By
robbing them of their dignity, we are losing the opportunity to
tap half the potential of mankind to achieve the Millennium Development
Goals. Women and girls are not victims, they are the driving force
that brings about social transformation."
UNAIDS and partners will support the country roll-out of the Agenda
for Action in pathfinder countries, including Liberia.
Annie
Lennox underlined her unshakable commitment to the cause of women
and girls affected by HIV.
"I
believe we need a broad movement for change," she said. "The
bottom-line for me is that, in essence, we are all the same. All
human beings, wherever we are, have the basic right to be happy
and healthy. I see this Agenda for Action as a great opportunity
to bring the realities faced by many women and girls to the forefront
and to call attention to the injustices faced by many women and
girls, placing them at a bigger risk of HIV."
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HIV
is the leading cause of death and disease among women of reproductive
age (15-49 years) worldwide. |
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In
Southern Africa, HIV prevalence among young women aged 15-24
years is on average about three times higher than among men
of the same age. |
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Up
to 70 percent of women worldwide encounter violence. Experiencing
violence hampers women's ability to negotiate safe sex. |
As
of December 2008, 33.4 million people were living with HIV worldwide,
of which 15.7 million -- almost half -- were women. The proportion
of women infected with HIV has risen in many regions over of the
world over the past 10 years. In sub-Saharan Africa, 60% of people
living with HIV are women. Nearly 30 years into the HIV epidemic,
HIV services do not sufficiently address the specific realities
and needs of women and girls.
"The
information on sexual and reproductive health for HIV-positive
women and girls is still limited," said Suksma Ratri, a member
of Indonesia's Positive Women's Network, who participated in today's
launch. "Being sexually active and HIV-positive at the same
time is very difficult. Women and girls living with HIV often
have restricted options when it comes to their sexuality. They
need an adequate and friendly support system that enables them
to make free decisions about their sexuality without being discriminated
and stigmatized. I think the Agenda for Action will be a good
platform for countries to strengthen services for women and girls."
The Agenda for Action provides clear action points on how
the UN can work together with governments, civil society and development
partners to:
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produce
better information on the specific needs of women and girls
in the context of HIV; |
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turn
political commitments into increased resources and actions
so HIV programs can better respond to the needs of women and
girls; and |
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support
leaders to build safer environments in which women's and girl's
human rights are protected. |
The
launch of the Agenda for Action involved many prominent
leaders from the United Nations system, governments and civil
society. Speakers included Asha Rose Migiro, United Nations Deputy
Secretary-General; Melanne Verveer, US Ambassador at Large for
Women's Global Issues; Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator; and Vabah
Gayflor, Liberia's Minister of Gender and Development.
UNAIDS
Leveraging
the AIDS response, UNAIDS works to build political action and
to promote the rights all of people for better results for global
health and development. Globally, it sets policy and is the source
of HIV-related data. In countries, UNAIDS brings together the
resources of the UNAIDS Secretariat and 10 UN system organizations
for coordinated and accountable efforts to unite the world against
AIDS.
For more information, see www.unaids.org.
Expert
Panel Releases Comprehensive New Research Agenda to Improve HIV
Responses for Women and Children
On
International Women's Day, IAS-Convened Panel Seeks Significant
New Focus on Women and Children, Who Make Up the Majority of People
Living with HIV Worldwide.
Geneva,
Switzerland -- March 8, 2010 -- As the HIV pandemic continues
to exact an increasing toll on women and children, the International
AIDS Society (IAS) and 15 other leading public and private sector
organizations have released a comprehensive new research agenda
designed to significantly advance global responses to HIV in women
and children. The new consensus statement, Asking the Right Questions:
Advancing an HIV Research Agenda for Women and Children, includes
20 specific recommendations to expand and improve responses to
the HIV-related challenges facing women and children worldwide.
The Agenda, which focuses on key gaps in clinical and programmatic
knowledge that hinder access to effective HIV prevention, treatment
and care for women and children, is being released today to coincide
with International Women's Day, whose theme is "Equal Rights,
Equal Opportunities: Progress for All."
Inadequate responses to HIV are a major barrier to women's health
and progress worldwide. According to UNAIDS, 15.7 million women
and 2.1 million children under age 15 were living with HIV in
2008. Women and children made up the majority of the estimated
33.4 million people living with HIV in 2008.
"HIV is the leading cause of death among women of reproductive
age, and the leading cause of child death in many African countries,
yet women and children are often either overlooked completely
or folded into general responses to HIV," said IAS Executive
Director Robin Gorna. "This agenda defines priority research
needed to greatly improve our knowledge about and capacity to
prevent and treat HIV in women and children. Implementation of
this research agenda is key to closing these knowledge and service
gaps, and to saving women's and children's lives."
The Agenda was developed through an extensive consultative process
involving investigators, clinicians, civil society and UN agencies,
and was informed by an expert-led mapping exercise and literature
review initiated by the IAS' Industry Liaison Forum (IAS-ILF).
In addition to the IAS, the consensus statement is endorsed by
multilateral institutions, international civil society organizations
and pharmaceutical industry leaders, including: amfAR, The Foundation
for AIDS Research; AVAC, Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention; Boehringer
Ingelheim; Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI); Coalition
on Children Affected by AIDS (CCABA); E lizabeth Glaser Pediatric
AIDS Foundation (EGPAF); European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG);
International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW); International
Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC); Merck; Treatment Action
Group (TAG); UNAIDS; UNICEF; ViiV Healthcare and WHO.
The Agenda identifies priority research questions within four
broad categories: 1) clinical research on prevention of mother-to-child
transmission (PMTCT) and paediatric treatment; 2) clinical research
on treatment issues for women; 3) operations research for women;
and 4) operations and implementation research related to PMTCT,
including paediatric care, treatment and support. Recommendations
in the fourth part of the agenda were developed through a parallel
initiative led by UNICEF.
The Agenda outlines strategies to address issues such as:
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Barriers
to developing pediatric formulations of HIV treatments |
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The
impact of interventions for TB, malaria and malnutrition on
antiretroviral ARV) dosage |
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The
impact of in utero exposure to antiretrovirals on uninfected
children |
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Optimal
weight-adapted parameters for antiretroviral therapy (ART)
initiation and discontinuation in children |
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The
impact of female hormone changes on treatment outcomes for
women and adolescent girls |
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The
impact of periodic ARV exposure via vertical transmission
prophylaxis on future maternal treatment options |
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Barriers
to ART access for women and girls. |
The
report recommends increased investment in research to address
these challenges, greatly expanded sharing of data from existing
studies related to HIV and women and children, and intensified
efforts to disaggregate clinical data by sex to ensure opportunities
for gender-based analysis. The endorsing organizations also call
for collaboration between funders, researchers, health care providers,
UN agencies and civil society and diagnostic and pharmaceutical
industry in implementing the new research agenda.
"While substantial progress has been made in expanding access
to antiretroviral therapy for adults and children and preventing
vertical transmission of HIV, there is still far too much we do
not know about preventing, managing and treating HIV disease in
women and children," said Robin Gorna. "Only by working
together to implement this research agenda can we rectify persistent
inequities in clinical knowledge, achieve the Millennium Development
Goals and prevent the needless illness and death of millions of
women and children worldwide."
The full research agenda on women and children and detailed information
on the iterative process used to develop, validate and prioritize
the research priorities is available online at www.iasociety.org/ilf.aspx.
Information on the UNICEF-led initiative, including the final
list of operations/implementation research recommendations for
PMTCT and pediatric care, treatment and support from a September
2009 expert consultation held in Washington, will be available
online at www.unicef.org
or www.pedaids.org.
About the IAS
 The
International AIDS Society (IAS) is the world's leading independent
association of HIV professionals, with 14,000 members from 190
countries working at all levels of the global response to AIDS.
Our members include researchers from all disciplines, clinicians,
public health and community practitioners on the frontlines of
the epidemic, as well as policy and program planners. The IAS
is the custodian of the biennial International AIDS Conference,
which will next be held in Vienna, Austria, in July 2010.
The IAS-Industry Liaison Forum, established in 2001, provides
a multi-stakeholder forum that promotes scientific, intellectual
and financial commitments from pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies
for HIV research in resource-limited settings.
3/9/10
Sources
UNAIDS.
UNAIDS Takes Action to Empower Women and Girls to Protect Themselves
from HIV. Press release. March 2, 2010.
International AIDS Society. Expert Panel Releases Comprehensive
New Research Agenda to Improve HIV Responses for Women and Children.
Press release. March 8, 2010.
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