epidemic

UNAIDS explores the impact of HIV on women and the instrumental role women living with the virus are playing to end AIDS. It includes the latest data and commentary from some of the leading advocates on women and HIV.

The report includes the voices of some 30 women living with HIV who have given their personal insights into how the epidemic is affecting women and on how women are actively working to reduce the spread and impact of AIDS.

HIV/AIDS imposes enormous economic, social, health, and human costs and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The challenge is particularly acute in Sub-Saharan Africa, home to two-thirds (22.5 million) of the people living with HIV/AIDS globally, and where HIV/AIDS has become the leading cause of premature death. But now, after decades of misery and frustration with the disease, there are signs of hope. HIV prevalence rates in Africa are stabilizing. This book sheds light on these concerns by analyzing the fiscal implications of HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa, the epicenter of the epidemic. It uses the toolbox of public finance to assess the sustainability of HIV/AIDS programs.

The Community based systems in HIV treatment (CoBaSys) programme aims to understand and support conditions for community empowerment in services providing treatment for people living with HIV in east and southern Africa (ESA). A community system for health is understood to be the sum of the organizations, local government structures, civil society organizations, institutions and resources whose primary purpose is to improve health at community and primary care level.

A new report by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has been released and shows that 2011 was a game changing year for the AIDS response with unprecedented progress in science, political leadership and results. The report also shows that new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths have fallen to the lowest levels since the peak of the epidemic. New HIV infections were reduced by 21% since 1997, and deaths from AIDS-related illnesses decreased by 21% since 2005.

There has been considerable progress across the world in responding to HIV and AIDS. Yet, the number of people newly infected with HIV continues to rise in many countries, and AIDS is still a leading cause of adult mortality. Treatment has become more widely available, but the costs for individuals and countries remain signifi cant, and the sustainability of treatment is a serious concern.

The maturity of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa has brought competing agendas for prevention and impact mitigation to the table. Given the countrys resource constraints it is imperative that any interventions are thoroughly assessed for their efficacy, costs and benefits.