In a striking assessment of the current situation of the health crisis, UN UN Human Rights Commissioner has not warned that more than nine million people do not receive treatment, while 4,000 girls and young women contract the virus every week.
An impressive three bedrooms of them live in sub -Saharan Africa, she observed, remembering the member affirm that while the HIV is “Entirely treatable and avoidable … The world is out of track at the end of AIDS.”
Stigma stigma crisis
“Stigma and discrimination are preventing concrete progress and paving the way for the resurgence of infections,” said Al-Nashif.
“Together we have the power and responsibility to change this. When human rights are promoted, health is protected.”
Other speakers echoed the need for human rights -based approaches to ensure universal access to treatment. They warned that discrimination and harmful laws directed to marginalized communities prevent access to prevention, testing and care.
Keep rights in the center
Florence Riako Anam of the global network of people living with HIV (GNP+), quoted Nelson Mandela, saying that HIV is “more than a disease – is a matter of human rights.”
In many countries, criminalization, stigma and discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, drug use and sexual work continue to obstruct HIV response efforts with deadly consequences.
PNB+, an NGO collecting data on stigma since 2008, has researched 100,000 people in 100 countries. The findings: Almost one in four respondents suffered HIV -related stigma.
Break down
“To end AIDS for good, we must dismantle human rights barriers They prevent certain populations from accessing the services they need and address the profound gender inequalities and underlying inequalities that generate totally different health results, ”said Vuyiseka Dubula, head of community, rights and gender of the global fund to combat AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
Dubula, which lives with HIV in South Africa, noted that although global progress has been significant in 61 % infections and AIDS-related deaths in 73 % in more than 100 countries in the last two decades-end there is a lot of work to be done.
“This is something to be proud of, but we can go even further over the next five years if we are really focused on ending HIV,” he said, referring to the sustainable development goal 3 (SDG3) To ensure healthy lives for all.
Compassion on cruelty
Adeeba Kamarulzaman of the World Health Organization (WHO) Council of Sciences and the Global Council for Inequality, AIDS and Pandemas echoed the need for more compassionate methods to combat the epidemic.
She pointed to Malaysia, her home country, which has faced a devastating HIV epidemic, but has since made significant progress.
In countries that describe drug use, knowledge of HIV status is 15 % higher and the incidence of HIV is five percent smaller, she explained, adding that in places where sex work is decriminalized, infection rates are still reduced by 4.5 %.
“When we choose compassion on cruelty, when we invest in people instead of punishing them, we save lives,Dr. Kamarulzaman said.
Persistent discrimination
Erika Castellanos, a trans executive woman of Global Action for Trans Equality, spoke of her experience in Belize, where LGBTIQ+ people faced up to 10 years in prison before 2016. Even after the law was annulled, little changed.
“Stigma, discrimination, and institutional barriers persist in systems that deny US dignity, services that exclude us and societies that still consider us less than humans,” said Castellans, who has lived with HIV for 20 years.
“I am here because of hard work, sweat, blood and tears of countless people, many of whom did not survive this epidemic,” she told Human Rights Council.
“I’m alive – because of an HIV response that valued my life.”
