Millions of lives at stake unless G8 acts on AIDS, warns ActionAid

A new report from Action Aid, Tackling political barriers to end AIDS, calls on governments to urgently deliver on their pledge to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care by 2010. “In country after country, progress is staggeringly slow and with just three years to go to 2010, the world is in danger of missing the target that gave hope to the 40 million people living with HIV and AIDS,“ said Aditi Sharma, ActionAid’s campaign coordinator. One of the easiest ways to prevent the virus spreading is giving drugs to HIV positive pregnant women - to prevent mother to child transmission. Yet Nigeria provides drugs to less than 1% of such women while India fares little better with 2%.

This week, as part of the Global AIDS Week (20-26 May) activists are expressing their anger about the number of lives lost and calling on G8 leaders and governments to provide access to treatment and tackle the deadly intersection of violence against women and HIV. In 2001, African governments promised to invest 15% of their expenditure on public health systems but most are far from this, with only Botswana achieving this by 2005. Furthermore, the world’s richest countries are refusing to act to fill the $8-10 billion annual AIDS funding gap.

ActionAid is an international anti-poverty agency working in over 40 countries, taking sides with poor people to end poverty and injustice together. For information about the Global AIDS Week (20-26 May) visit: www.globalaidsweek.org

ITUC urges G8 to step up its efforts in the fight against AIDS

Only a few days ahead of the 12th World Day for Safety and Health at Work, commemorating workers who died or were injured at work as a result of unsatisfactory production methods or working conditions, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) urges the G8 to step up its efforts to tackle the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Almost 40 million people across the world are currently living with HIV, 80% of whom are adults. More than half of those infected form part of the active population and are between 15 and 49. Many workers who are no longer physically fit enough to go to work depend on their young children who then have to meet the family's needs.

Despite being at the top of the global agenda - the fight against AIDS is one of the Millennium Goals - results remain poor. Trade unions already placed pressure on the G8 meeting last year. The 2006 summit made a commitment to taking practical measures to monitor AIDS and other infectious diseases, present reports and disseminate information. These commitments have not had the desired results.

Therefore, the ITUC reiterates its demand to the next G8 summit, to be held in early July in Germany, that the promised development aid and contributions to the Global Fund to fight this pandemic be released as soon as possible. "The G8 must keep the commitments it made last year and step up its efforts to stop this pandemic," said ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder. "It has the capacity to do so and must therefore make this a priority action for 2007."