Tatsat Chronicle Magazine

Efforts to End AIDS Pandemic “Must Speed Up,” Says UN

Chef de Cabinet Courtenay Rattray, outlined three immediate steps to reverse current trends and get back on track.
June 11, 2022
AIDS

Ahead of a UN General Assembly meeting on the issue this week, the UN Secretary-General released a report titled HIV and AIDS: Ending Inequalities and Getting on Track to End AIDS by 2030.

The report explains how inequality and insufficient investment “leave the world dangerously ill-prepared to face the pandemics of today and tomorrow”.

The AIDS pandemic is responsible for more than 13,000 deaths every week, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said in a press release.

UNAIDS data shows that HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths are currently not declining fast enough to end the pandemic by 2030 as promised.

The UN Secretary-General’s statement to the General Assembly, delivered by Chief of Staff Courtenay Rattray, outlined three immediate steps to reverse current trends and get back on track.

“First, we must address intersecting inequalities, discrimination and the marginalisation of entire communities, which are often exacerbated by punitive laws, policies and practices,” he said.

He called for policy reforms to reduce the HIV risks of marginalised communities, including sex workers, injecting drug users, prisoners, transgender people and gay men. He noted how stigma hampers public health. “Stigma hurts everyone. Social solidarity protects everyone,” he stressed.

The second step is to ensure the sharing of health technologies, including long-acting anti-retrovirals, to make them available to people in all countries of the world.

The third step is to increase the resources made available to fight AIDS. “Investments in the fight against AIDS are investments in global health security. They save lives – and money,” Rattray said on behalf of the UN chief.