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The Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS
The Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS was adopted by the world’s governments at the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on HIV/AIDS in June 2001.
For the first time ever, time-bound targets to which governments and the United Nations may be held accountable were established.
UNAIDS and its co-sponsors have established a set of yardsticks for tracking movement towards those targets. Work on the first report measuring progress against these indicators will begin in 2003, and will be based on progress reports provided in March 2003 by the 189 countries that adopted the Declaration.
Already there is substantial evidence of progress. More countries are recognising the value of pooling resources, experiences and commitment by forging regional initiatives to combat the epidemic. For example:
The Asia Pacific Leadership Forum, which is tasked with improving key decision-makers’ knowledge and understanding of HIV/AIDS and its impact on different sectors of society.
Members of the Commonwealth of Independent States have developed a regional Programme of Urgent Response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which government leaders endorsed in May 2002.
In mid-2002, the Pan-Caribbean Partnership against HIV/AIDS signed an agreement with six pharmaceutical companies as part of wider-ranging efforts to improve access to cheaper antiretroviral drugs.
In sub-Saharan Africa, 40 countries have developed national strategies to fight HIV/AIDS (almost three times as many as two years ago), and 19 countries now have National AIDS Councils (a six-fold increase since 2000).
However, fewer than 4% of people in need of antiretroviral therapy in low- and middle-income countries had access to those medications at the end of 2001 and fewer than 10% of people with HIV/AIDS have access to palliative care or treatment for opportunistic infections.
Aside from the prohibitory cost of many medications, insufficient capacity of health sectors, including infrastructure and shortage of trained personnel, are major barriers to health service delivery in many countries.