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The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says it has chosen to focus on HIV/AIDS because the multiple consequences of the disease constitute a long-term and complex disaster
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ recently-released ‘World Disasters Report 2008’ focuses for the first time not on natural events but on one condition: HIV/AIDS.
The report has three key messages: - Effective interventions to tackle HIV/AIDS are not being targeted at the right groups. In too many countries where the HIV epidemic is concentrated in high-risk groups (sex workers, injecting drug users, men who have sex with men), governments have taken the easy route of generalised approaches, such as school programmes.
- Money for HIV/AIDS is not flowing from donors to communities effectively. Bureaucracy, earmarked aid, and lack of coordination all mean that funds do not reach those most in need.
- Groups at greater risk of contracting HIV continue to face stigma and discrimination. Efforts to control HIV/AIDS are hampered because these groups are criminalised and have little or no access to HIV prevention and treatment services.
Twenty-five years after the start of the epidemic, governments should focus their HIV/AIDS programmes on those most in need. Donors should ensure their aid is effective, and public policy decisions should be based on evidence rather than moral judgments, says the report. The IFRC says it has chosen to focus on HIV/AIDS because the multiple consequences of HIV/AIDS constitute a long-term and complex disaster. In countries in southern Africa the epidemic has had a catastrophic effect on the population, health system, economy, and social stability. HIV/AIDS is a disaster in these nations. Even in countries with concentrated epidemics, HIV/AIDS is devastating for marginalised groups that are left vulnerable to infection. The IFRC believes humanitarian organisations need to increase the scale and scope of their HIV/AIDS programmes. Source: IFRC World Disasters Report 2008, July 2008
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