| Access
to treatment
The
Global Coalition on Women and AIDS seeks to:
Equalize access to treatment. Women and girls have a
right to know their HIV status. They need access to
voluntary testing and counselling, as well as services
to protect themselves and their children from infection.
Given that half the world’s HIV infected population
is now female, global programmes to step up access to
treatment for HIV and related infections must ensure
women have equal access. |
On World AIDS Day 2003, WHO and UNAIDS released a detailed
and concrete plan to provide antiretroviral treatment to three
million people living with AIDS in developing countries by
the end of 2005. This is a vital step towards the ultimate
goal of providing universal access to AIDS treatment to all
those who require it.
The problem is urgent: 20 million people
have died of AIDS in two decades and around 40 million more
people are currently infected (range 34.6-42.3 million). In
poor countries, six million people with HIV/AIDS need antiretroviral
treatment immediately. Today only about 400,000 people receive
antiretroviral treatment - less than 8% of those in need.
Without accelerated prevention and treatment the AIDS epidemic
will continue destroying communities, health care systems
and economies, placing a shadow upon the future of entire
countries.
CONVENING AGENCIES
International
Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS
World
Health Organization
RELATED DOCUMENTS
New link!
Reproductive Health Matters: Gender
dimensions of user fees: Implications for women's utilization
of health care
Backgrounder: AIDS
treatment—A focus on '3 by 5'
WHO/UNAIDS Policy Statement: Ensuring
equitable access to anti-retroviral treatment for women
Center for Strategic and International Studies:
Breaking the cycle: Equitable access to HIV treatment for
women and girls
WHO:
Consultation on ethics and equitable access to treatment and
care for HIV/AIDS
WHO/UNAIDS: "3
by 5" Progress Report
UNAIDS: 2004
Report on the global AIDS epidemic
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