HIV/AIDS
34 million people worldwide have HIV/AIDS. In 2010, 2.7 million people were newly infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and 1.8 million people died from Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Infected people – almost 23 million – live almost exclusively in sub-Saharan Africa and most of them are between 15 and 24 years old (more >).
HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health and rights are closely connected. In both cases prevention plays a leading part. DSW provides contraceptives and information about sexual and reproductive health and rights. We help during and after pregnancy, offer treatments for sexual transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, and empower women and girls to make them less vulnerable.
Thus, even more can be done by bringing together political authorities in European and international conferences and workshops. In our advocacy work, we direct political and public attention to signed contributions as well as to commitments such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other Diseases
The spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases is to be halted by 2015.
AIDS and poverty are mutually supportive. Poor people are more likely to become infected with the immunodeficiency disease than rich people, and families affected by AIDS are plunged further into poverty as they lose between 66 and 80 per cent of their income.
Worldwide, 2.6 million people were infected with HIV in 2009. Today, there must be about 33.3 million people living with the virus, more than two thirds of whom in Africa. Every day, some 4,932 people die from this pandemic disease. Even today, more than 16 million children in sub-Saharan Africa have lost at least one parent to AIDS.
Providing information for young people is of the essence
One third of new HIV infections worldwide affect young people between 15 and 24 years of age. Young women in developing countries are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. Three out of four newly infected young people in sub-Saharan Africa are female. For biological as well as social reasons, their risk of contracting HIV is much higher than that of men.
Insufficient sex education and poor access to contraceptives are among the main reasons for the rapid spread of the HIV virus among adolescents. In the fight against AIDS, prevention is still the best recipe. Antiretrovirals for people living with HIV/AIDS may prolong life, but there is still no cure for the immunodeficiency disease. Information and using condoms for contraception are therefore essential in HIV prevention.
Improved linkages between health projects
To be successful in the fight against the AIDS epidemic, sexual and reproductive health projects must be linked more effectively to projects against HIV/AIDS, since HIV/AIDS as one aspect of sexual and reproductive health is not only deemed to be a sexually transmitted disease but has similar or even the same causes. Well-tried reproductive health services provide information on the dangers of infection as well as prevention methods, such as male and female condoms. Awareness raising and behaviour change programmes for young people are an important measure in HIV/AIDS prevention.
