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www.stopaidsnow.org | July 2010 | |
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Rights Here, Right Now! STOP AIDS NOW! at the International AIDS Conference The 18th International AIDS Conference is coming up. If you are attending the conference, we invite you to visit the STOP AIDS NOW! booth and enjoy a wide range of inspiring and interactive activities. STOP AIDS NOW! will have a Networking Zone in the Global Village (booth 809). We lead a skills-building workshop on Managing HIV in the workplace and have poster presentations. Read more… New vision for UNAIDS The UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) endorsed the new vision of UNAIDS for the AIDS response at its 26th meeting held in Geneva from 22 to 24 June. The new vision is: 'Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths.' This new vision – and the accompanying new mission statement – is to give the AIDS response a new boost to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care and support. The Board reaffirmed its commitment to the elimination of HIV-related stigma and discrimination; to the removal of punitive laws and practices; to reducing gender inequity; to the increase of the direct participation of people living with HIV; as well as to promoting an integrated health and development agenda. Read more…  What's new?  New maternal mortality figures and HIVNew evidence, published in the medical journal The Lancet, shows a fall of over 35% in maternal mortality rates (MMR) in the last 30 years. Furthermore, the evidence shows the influence of AIDS on maternal mortality rates and highlights the contribution HIV services can make to reducing maternal deaths. On May 25, Share-Net and MDG5 Meshwork discussed these new figures. The discussion on the link between HIV and maternal mortality was facilitated by STOP AIDS NOW! Read more… MSF reports on widening treatment gap More and more reports confirm the warning that STOP AIDS NOW! gave on World Aids Day last year: international donors are cutting back on HIV/AIDS funding. The latest report to confirm this trend is by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and is entitled 'No time to quit: HIV/AIDS treatment gap widening in Africa'. Based on analyses made in eight sub-Saharan countries, the report clearly illustrates how international funding institutions (such as PEPFAR and the Global Fund) have decided to cap or reduce their spending on HIV treatment. Read the report... Research The People Living with HIV Stigma Index Stigma is a key obstacle to HIV treatment, prevention, care and support. The People Living with HIV Stigma Index provides a tool that measures and detects changing trends in relation to stigma and discrimination. It is designed to help understand how stigma and discrimination are experienced by people living with HIV. The data the Index provides can be used by the national implementing partners to shape future programme interventions and policy change. Read more... Financing the response: New Report on Costs and Choices Meet and greet… Meet Rhon Reynolds European NGO Delegate to the UNAIDS PCB "I see myself as an activist and a policy person. As NGO delegate I have the opportunity to represent those who normally don't have a voice at this policy level." European NGO Delegate to the UNAIDS Program Coordinating Board (PCB) sounds like an important job. But is it really? [Laughs] It's a very important job. You have a great responsibility and you are accountable to your constituency. You have to try to consult with all of them and be aware of their priorities. What is that you exactly do as a NGO delegate at the UNAIDS PCB? We represent NGOs from different regions and do all the preparatory work to make the UNAIDS PCB outcome as successful as possible for our constituencies. One part of the work is preparing an NGO paper. This year's theme was stigma and discrimination, which was identified as one critical barrier in the response during the latest PCB. Another task of the NGO delegation is to sit in a number of working groups preparing the meeting and have a say in setting the agenda. Closer to the meeting, we prepare talking points and have meetings with delegates, co-sponsors and the UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé, to influence the process and the outcome of the meeting. What is the main achievement that came out of this PCB? The amount of representation of the people involved was very good. Because of this we were successful in calling upon members to remove punitive laws, policies and practices that block access to HIV services, as well as to intensify efforts to meet the health needs of vulnerable populations. NGOs played a key role in this success. Also the MSM agenda was completely accepted by the PCB. Read the complete interview… Resources
Upcoming events
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STOP AIDS NOW! is a partnership between Aids Fonds, Hivos, ICCO, Cordaid and Oxfam Novib