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Roundup: Asia-Pacific commits to ending AIDS by 2030, endorses post-2015 framework

Xinhua, January 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

Asia-Pacific countries endorsed a regional framework for action on HIV and AIDS beyond 2015 at an intergovernmental meeting here on Friday, pledging to end the AIDS epidemic in the region by 2030.

The framework includes a move towards sustainable financing of AIDS response and ensuring affordable access to life-saving medicine and diagnostics.

During the three-day Asia-Pacific Intergovernmental Meeting on HIV and AIDS, government delegates and civil society organizations reviewed measures to enhance financial sustainability and effectiveness of the region's HIV response and to strengthen regional cooperation.

The meeting was organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), in cooperation with the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and other UN entities.

Participants focused in particular on addressing legal and policy barriers to accessing services for key populations at higher risk of HIV and persons living with HIV, which include discrimination in employment, health care, education, travel and insurance.

An estimated 6 million people are living with HIV in Asia and the Pacific and only 33 percent of them are receiving treatment, often due to legal and policy barriers in accessing HIV services.

"We must promote laws, policies and practices that are evidence- based and firmly grounded in human rights. We must continue to identify and remove legal and policy barriers to universal access to HIV services," said Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, UN Under Secretary General and ESCAP Executive Secretary.

"I believe that Asia and the Pacific can, if effectively mobilized, be a pathbreaker in meeting the commitment to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support," she noted.

By September, governments in the region are expected to decide on a new set of sustainable development goals for the period after 2015, as the Millennium Development Goals come to an end.

"Asia and the Pacific is moving the world forward into new frontiers of development. You have all the right tools in your hands, beginning with political commitment. I challenge you to be the first region to end the AIDS epidemic," said Michel Sidib, Executive Director of UNAIDS.

"In the Pacific, a more robust human rights-based approach to HIV and sexual and reproductive health and rights is urgently required. In the 21st century, countries must adopt legislation that recognizes sexual orientation and gender identity," highlighted Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, President of Fiji and chair of the intergovernmental meeting.

Participants concurred that the AIDS response in Asia and the Pacific had witnessed some of the world's greatest successes, but current efforts needed to be refocused to ensure that all countries were able to meet the commitments made at regional and global levels.

"Let us remember that the true test of a humane and inclusive society is marked by its commitment to protecting the most vulnerable," said Nicholas Rosellini, Director of the UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub. Endi