Universal Access
On 2 June 2006, Member States at the 87th plenary meeting of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted a Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS. Countries committed, among other measures, to set ambitious targets by the end of 2006 to scale up the response to the HIV epidemic towards the goal of reaching universal access by 2010. This process to set targets needed to be transparent and inclusive, with the full and active participation of, among others, vulnerable groups.
Broad involvement of all stakeholders, including the community sector, in setting clear and appropriate targets is important because it fosters ownership and accountability. It also provides a better understanding of the specific dynamics of national epidemics. Because of this, ICASO developed a 4-year project to support community sector advocates to be involved in universal access target setting, implementation, and review processes. The overall goals are to help ensure that the targets for universal access set at the country level are ambitious, reflect the epidemic and the needs of those most affected, and are achieved by 2010. This includes supporting communities to analyze national responses and targets and advocate at the national, regional and global levels (see UNAIDS PCB conference paper).
Political failings continue to drive HIV and AIDS and stand in the way of effectively addressing the epidemic: failure to commit adequate resources, disregard for human rights and dignity, decades of inattention to health workers and health care systems, refusal to base prevention interventions on the evidence of what is effective, and financing and trade policies that undermine access to lifesaving drugs. ICASO continues to mobilize and support community organisations at the global level to come together to challenge this ‘political failure’ in reaching universal access. An example of this includes the community paper “A Call for Political Leadership: Community sector recommendations for the UN Political Declaration”, endorsed by over 250 organizations worldwide (available in English, Spanish and French).
