FFWDWeekly.com - August 10, 2006

– Stephen Lewis, UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa

Over 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS. Since 1981, more than 25 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses — three million last year alone. Ninety-five per cent of people living with HIV/AIDS live in developing countries. Each day AIDS claims 8,000 lives.

Increasingly the face of AIDS is female. More than half the people living with HIV are women. Twenty-five years into the epidemic, gender inequality and the low status of women remain two of the principal drivers of HIV. Women and girls are more physiologically vulnerable to HIV transmission than men and boys. Social, cultural and economic factors also put women and girls at a greater risk of contracting HIV and impede their access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.

The AIDS epidemic is rolling back development gains in many poor countries and undermining their capacity to meet the needs of their people. AIDS is a disease of poverty. The poor are more likely to become infected and less likely to receive care and treatment. Conversely, due to discrimination, stigma and the exorbitant cost of treatment, those who are HIV-positive often become poor. The epidemic is fuelled by and perpetuates stigma, discrimination and the denial of human rights.

While the HIV/AIDS epidemic is having a disproportionate effect on people in less-developed countries, Susan Cress of the Aids Calgary Awareness Association says that poverty also burdens those living with HIV/AIDS in Alberta. "The longer people live within poverty, the harder it is to get out of poverty. The average (annual) income for a person living with HIV in Alberta is less than $7,000. If you have HIV, the likelihood that you will live in poverty is greater."

Cress says that, "Stigma and discrimination are at the forefront of challenges facing people living with HIV/AIDS in Alberta. Barriers preclude people living with HIV/AIDS from returning to work, and legislation needs to reframe HIV/AIDS as an episodic disability."

Legal and policy sanctions against drug use, sex work and needle exchange in prisons create situations in which people become more vulnerable to HIV transmission. With the level of prosperity in Calgary, Cress adds, "It is hard to remind the community that there are people being left behind. The waitlist for access to mental health professionals in the city leaves people behind, as does the lack in affordable and safe housing for those with compromised immune systems. There is also a need in the city for more harm reduction programs which support people with addiction issues."

At the G8 Summit in July 2005, the leaders of the richest industrialized nations, including Canada, pledged to develop and implement a comprehensive response to AIDS with the goal of achieving universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment by 2010. Aid money helps poor countries develop their own health and education systems. For years Canada has pledged to spend 0.7 per cent of gross national income on development assistance. We currently spend 0.34 per cent. Five countries have reached or surpassed the 0.7 per cent target. More have committed to reaching this target by 2015. Canada has yet to set its own timetable.

The Global Treatment Access Group (GTAG) is a coalition of civil society organizations. GTAG seeks to improve access to essential medicines and other aspects of care, treatment and support for people living with HIV/AIDS. GTAG has developed a "civil society platform for action" that highlights the ways in which Canada should take action to help address the AIDS crisis.

GTAG asserts that as the host of the International AIDS Conference, Canada should show leadership in four ways. Firstly, we should pay our fair share of prevention and treatment in developing countries. Secondly, we should invest in the public health care systems of developing countries and cancel the debts of developing countries to free up resources to fight AIDS and poverty. Lastly, we must follow through on commitments to make medicines affordable to developing countries.

From August 13-18 over 20,000 scientists, researchers, doctors, nurses, artists, community leaders, activists and a number of celebrities, including Bill Gates, Richard Gere and Bill Clinton will gather in Toronto. At issue is the ongoing reaction to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. As the host country to the International AIDS conference, Canada should show it is ready to lead in the response to AIDS. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced that he will not attend the conference. The Prime Minister’s decision not to represent Canada at an international AIDS conference in our own country is disappointing and disconcerting. It sends a clear message that AIDS is not a priority for this government.

In the effort to persuade the Conservative government that Canadians want action from their government when it comes to HIV/AIDS, GTAG’s Platform for Action will be presented to Prime Minister Stephen Harper in advance of the AIDS conference. The theme of this year’s AIDS conference is "Time to Deliver." It’s time Canada delivered on increasing aid, providing debt relief and helping turn the tide against the destructive impact of HIV/AIDS.

Arresting the AIDS epidemic can only be achieved through the coordinated efforts of government and civil society across the globe. Make no mistake, the AIDS epidemic can be beaten. Local actions can lead to global solutions.

Oxfam Canada has launched a postcard campaign for citizens to ask the prime minister to address the global HIV/AIDS crisis. Postcards can be found at any Good Earth Café location. A related petition can be found online at www.oxfam.ca/actions/aidsconf/petition.php

As part of the Arusha Action Film Series, the Arusha Centre and Oxfam Canada will be screening Pills Profits Protest: Chronicle of the Global AIDS Movement at the Uptown Stage and Screen, August 16 at 7 p.m.