Every World AIDS Day, the vital importance of Christian Aid’s continued work to strengthen the response to the global epidemic of HIV is underlined.

According to the latest statistics (UNAIDS 2010), there are now an estimated 33.3 million people living with HIV worldwide, of which a staggering 30 million live in the world’s poorest countries. Of these, 15.9 million are women and 2.5 million children under the age of 15 years. Millions more children are affected, having lost their parents or guardians to AIDS.

Reducing global poverty is the aim of Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 1 and Christian Aid believes that the achievement of this goal will not be possible without addressing HIV, since poverty and HIV and so inextricably linked. The impact of HIV is greatest in situations of poverty, inequality and conflict since developing countries often lack sufficient resources or infrastructure to respond effectively to the epidemic. In turn, HIV drastically increases one’s vulnerability to poverty.

Preventing new infections through universal education initiatives - part of MDG 2 - and increasing access to treatment such as anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy helps to raise productivity levels and therefore impacts positively not only on quality of life and wellbeing at the individual, family and community level but also contributes significantly to strengthening a country’s social and economic situation.

There is evidence to suggest that universal education initiatives are associated with a fall in the number of HIV infections among young people in some developing countries. However, women and girls remain particularly vulnerable to HIV due to a number of biological, social, cultural, and economic factors that prevent them for accessing even their basic rights, including to education. Women’s already inequitable social, economic and legal status is only increased by a positive HIV status due to entrenched stigma associated with the virus.

Global efforts to promote gender equality – MDG 3 - play an essential role in reducing women and girls’ vulnerability. Stephen Lewis, former UN envoy on HIV in Africa, is quoted as proclaiming gender equality as the single most important struggle on the face of the planet.

HIV remains the leading cause of death worldwide among women of child bearing age. In 2009, an estimated one thousand babies were infected globally every single day. Many of them will die without treatment as a result of HIV-related causes. The prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) supports the reduction of child mortality - MDG 4.

MDG 5 – improved maternal health - enables women to access healthcare before, during and after pregnancy. Maternal health is about women being valued, and their rights and choices being upheld. There is a great deal more to maternal health than solely preventing women from dying in childbirth. Improving maternal health is also about tackling gender inequality and ensuring that the rights of women and girls are respected. Efforts to improve maternal health are accelerating the number of primary HIV prevention services for women, as well as interventions to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission.

Many millions of people living with HIV and without access to treatment are co-infected with Tuberculosis (TB), which continues to be the most common opportunistic infection contracted by people living with HIV. Well designed, comprehensive HIV programmes help to strengthen national health systems, attract financial resources for health, build systemic capacity in many resource-limited settings, and support the reduction of leading infectious diseases - MDG 6.

Financial support to help fight HIV on a global scale should be sustained and increased – not diverted, not divided, and not spread thinly. Any reversal in the gains made in the response to HIV will have a significant impact on the MDGs. Instead, these efforts should be doubled to ensure that the MDGs are achieved by 2015.

Christian Aid joins other UK civil society organisations in calling for the UK to commit its fair share of £840 million to Global Fund for 2011-13.



Emma Pomfret is an international journalist who leads Christian Aid's media work for Africa www.christianaid.org.uk/