HIV and AIDS

2006 marked 25 years of a world with AIDS. 20 million people are dead, 40 million are living with HIV and AIDS and the numbers are rising by 5 million every year. Of the 40 million people living with HIV and AIDS worldwide, 25 million are from Commonwealth countries. Although 4 million are in immediate need of Anti Retroviral Treatment (ART) in the Commonwealth, fewer than 10% are able to access it. There is still no cure or vaccine for HIV and AIDS but vast amounts of energy and money are being used to halt the spread of this potentially fatal disease.

    HIV and AIDS is a focal area of the Foundation's Sustainable Development work plan and a key Millennium Development Goal (MDG)  and target to be achieved.  The Foundation strongly believes that given the economic and social devastation caused by the pandemic across the Commonwealth, failure to reach this particular goal will greatly undermine, if not make impossible, the attainment of all the other Millennium Goals.

In addition to meeting MDG Goal 6, the Foundation will strengthen civil society initiatives aimed at universal access to treatment by 2010, as endorsed by G8 leaders and United Nations/Commonwealth Member States at the High-Level Plenary Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2005; and the WHO-UNAIDS led "3 by 5" initiative  to scale-up HIV and AIDS treatment and care.

Mobilising Civil Society response to HIV and AIDS

Centralised responses have proven inadequate in the face of the enormity of HIV and AIDS and the international community acknowledges that governments need to work with civil society to avert HIV epidemics and  reduce current infection rates.  According to the UNAIDS 2006 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic, most countries of the Commonwealth are not managing nor reducing the problem of HIV and AIDS.  Countries are able to achieve greater progress when both government and its people engage and work in close partnership on how policies are formulated and implemented.  Often, factors that determine HIV transmission are outside the influence of governments and CSOs can respond more rapidly than other agencies, as they have the capability to mobilize resources in designing community mitigation strategies, harnessing skills, knowledge, and practices that are valuable tools in the fight against AIDS. 

Commonwealth People's Forum Workshop on HIV and AIDS
On 19 and 20 November 2007 delegates from around the Commonwealth, met at the Commonwealth People's Forum to debate issues of the day at organised workshops. Among those workshops was HIV Prevention Education as a Tool for Social Transformation. The main focus of this workshop was on access to treatment for people living with HIV and AIDS. To read the full civil society statement from that workshop please click on the link below.

World AIDS Day 
Click here to read the message for World AIDS Day 2007 from Dr. Mark Collins, Director of the Commonwealth Foundation.

Related Links
CHAIN
UN Report on AIDS

Related Documents
Full civil society statement 25 KB)