AHF Calls for Action on Global Health Ahead of November G20 Summit
In conjunction with the Civil 20 starting today in
The Civil 20 convenes
HIV/AIDS is but one of several urgent health issues currently being placed on the back burner by governments. In response, AHF has drafted a statement to C20 and
The
Under the presidency of
The Government of
Annually, one million women, children and men die of AIDS-related causes — an equivalent of a large city being wiped out every single year by a chronic disease that is now treatable and preventable. From a socioeconomic standpoint, the loss of life on this scale, particularly among people in the prime of their lives, represents the squandering of priceless human potential to innovate, build communities, raise families and improve the world in numerous other facets of human existence.
While AIDS appears in the headlines much less frequently today, the magnitude of its continued impact is staggering. According to the latest available estimates, 30.8 million to 43 million people are living with HIV globally, with approximately 1.8 million people getting newly infected annually.1 Many in that statistic are unaware of their status and thus unable to take the necessary steps to prevent further transmission. Despite advances in treatment and prevention methods, the rate of new infections has declined by only 11% since 2010 — far too slowly to bring AIDS under control.
At the same time, donor-government disbursements to low- and middle-income countries for fighting AIDS have steadily declined to
As evidenced by the epidemiological and financial figures, the world appears to be stuck in place with the AIDS response. Unless steps are taken to reinvigorate and fully fund the most pressing global public health priorities, the global economic and technological divide will continue to grow, amplifying the risk of worldwide instability, social unrest and diminished economic development.
With this in mind, as part of the dialogue between the C20 and
- Declining global health funding
G20 countries should increase contributions to theGlobal Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and more broadly, to call for strong bilateral and multilateral commitments to foreign aid for public health. The decline in global health funding should not be the new normal. - Unaffordable drug pricing and patent monopolies
In many countries with a history of patent opposition and strong support for generic medicines, access to affordable drugs is under threat by patent monopolies. TheG20 should commit to protecting the right of all countries to invoke the TRIPS flexibilities and support the removal of trade barriers for the importation and domestic production of essential medicines in all middle- and low-income countries. - Slow implementation of the Test and Treat strategy
In the absence of an effective cure or vaccine for HIV, the most effective way to control the AIDS epidemic is to provide HIV testing and treatment services to as many people as possible. Test and Treat has been broadly adopted, but implementation is lagging behind, particularly on testing. - Antimicrobial resistance
Antimicrobial resistance poses a tremendous threat to global public health. With the emergence of many drug-resistant pathogens such as gonorrhea, tuberculosis and others, the risk of unstoppable pandemics is constantly growing. The world must address this problem by significantly increasing investment in research and outbreak preparedness. - Neglected tropical diseases
As the 2014 Ebola outbreak showed, we ignore neglected tropical diseases at our peril. The cost of being unprepared for an inevitable outbreak in an interconnected world could mean millions of lives lost, severe disruptions to global travel and trade, and lasting costs of rebuilding affected communities.
Because this is an investment worth making, we call on the
1 UNAIDS Fact Sheet 2016, http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/fact-sheet
2
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180404006349/en/
Dr.
+54 9 3462 62 3267
[email protected]
or
US MEDIA CONTACTS:
Ged Kenslea, Senior Director, Communications, AHF
+1.323.308.1833 work
+1.323.791.5526 mobile
[email protected]
or
Denys Nazarov, Director of Global Policy & Communication, AHF
+1 323.308.1829
[email protected]
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