2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS 9
In 2001, world leaders at the UN General Assembly adopted a Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, which recognised the HIV/AIDS epidemic as a global emergency and committed the world to action. It noted the importance of treatment in tackling the crisis, and that the lack of affordable drugs was a major barrier to providing treatment. It asserted that access to medicines was a fundamental part of the right to health.
2003: The “3 by 5” initiative 10
The World Health Organisation“s `3 by 5“ was a global initiative to provide ARV treatment to three million people living with HIV/AIDS in developing countries by the end of 2005.
Tragically, the target was missed, although the number of those receiving treatment tripled to 1.3 million by the end of 2005. Importantly, the initiative boosted international efforts to fight AIDS, and exploded the myth that HIV treatment programmes could not work effectively in poor countries. The human rights case for access to treatment is undeniable; 3 by 5 showed it is possible to deliver, leaving decisionmakers with no excuse for failing to tackle the injustice.
Students launch ‘the World is Watching campaign by flooding Trafalgar Square with Eyeballs.
2005: Access for all by 2010? 11
After public campaigning, the UK government promised to use its 2005 G8 presidency to “press for an international agreement on universal access to AIDS treatment by 2010”. In July 2005 the G8 made a commitment, later endorsed by UN member states “to develop and implement a package for HIV prevention, treatment and care, with the aim of as close as possible to universal access to treatment for all those who need it by 2010”.
2007: Warning signs
G8 Backtracking
In June 2007, G8 leaders met in Germany. - where they promised only a fraction of the funding needed to meet their 2005 promise, took no action to bring down the price of drugs, and appeared to backtrack on the wording of the promise itself!
One glimmer of hope was their promise to treble the size of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria by 2010.
Global Fund disappointment
But… When donors to the Global Fund met for a ‘replenishment conference’ just three months later, it seemed this promise was forgotten too. The UK pledged just half the amount of money required - £360m over three years, rather than the £700m we are calling for - and which is needed to maintain its current share of funding and meet the G8 targets.
Warnings from UNAIDS
In September 2007, UNAIDS published its latest estimates of the resources required to meet the 2010 promise. It warned that this promise was under serious threat and “the current pace of scale-up will not achieve universal access by the agreed target date of 2010, imperilling the world’s ability to halt and begin to reverse the HIV epidemic by 2015, as provided in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).”
…”We cannot afford the costs of inaction…. Unless we can prevent new infections, future treatment costs will continue to mount. Similarly, treatment access is essential to efforts to preserve the productivity of adults and their households, reduce costly hospitalization, and alleviate the epidemic’s impact on national economies and human development. The epidemic has shortened average life expectancy by more than two decades in several countries, claiming an estimated 2.9 million lives in 2006”
It warns that without urgent action - including a quadrupling of funds - the promise will be broken, and the epidemic will continue to spread.
The UK’s choice: act and save millions of lives, or break promises and lose more
The Department for International Development (DFID) plans and delivers the UK’s response to the international AIDS crisis. DFID are currently producing the UK’s new three-year AIDS strategy, due to be published in Spring 2008. This will decide the content and scale of the UK’s response in the years until 2010. The new strategy must contain the money, affordable drugs and the healthcare workers needed to keep the promise of universal access by 2010.
(8) See Avert for more information on ‘What is AIDS?’
(9) UN General Assembly, August 2001
(10) WHO, 2005, The 3 by 5 initiative
(11) G8, 2005, Gleneagles Communique, Africa 18(d), p.22
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