Below is an interesting article, written before World AIDS Day 2011, which emphasises the need to destigmatise HIV in Northern Ireland and push for greater funding for care and prevention.

HIV/AIDS Thirty Years On: Challenges and Hopes
By Ruari-Santiago McBride
23/11/2011
The AIDS virus was first discovered three decades ago in the United States. Since then, 30 million people have died from AIDS-related causes and 1.8 million people continue to die every year. According to the World Health Organisation there are currently 33.3 million people living across the world with the HIV virus, which causes AIDS. The impact that HIV/AIDS has had on our global community is internationally recognised on the 1st of December as ‘World AIDS Day’.

HIV/AIDS destroys the body’s immune system leaving people highly vulnerable to opportune infections. The body can be supported with drugs and a balanced diet; however, living with HIV/AIDS also poses significant psychological challenges. The stigma attached to the condition, fuelled by ignorance, is just as damaging as the virus itself. Stigmatisation prevents people from getting tested, accessing treatment or telling partners of the positive status because of fear of potential repercussions.
In May of this year, a ground breaking study, conducted by the US National Institutes of Health, found that HIV people receiving anti-retroviral treatment decreased their risk of transmitting the virus to their uninfected partner by 96%. This study reveals that treatment is prevention. In line with this a roadmap has been proposed by UNAIDS that shows that if access to HIV treatment, as well as other modes of prevention and care, is scaled up now, rather than later, it may be possible not only to save countless lives but also disrupt the cycle of new infections and curb the growing numbers of people living with HIV/AIDS. The current evidence suggests a need to ensure that funding for HIV/AIDS treatment actually increases, rather than decreases, during this current economic crisis.
HIV/AIDS is commonly perceived to be a public health issue that affects developing nations in the global ‘south’ and not an issue of concern for ‘developed’ countries such as Northern Ireland. However, Northern Ireland saw 79 new HIV diagnoses during 2010, a 361% increase on the 19 new diagnoses in 2001. Furthermore, in industrialised countries such as Northern Ireland HIV/AIDS is predominately viewed as a matter of concern for minority groups, such as men who have sex with men or minority ethnic communities. However, of the individuals accessing care in Northern Ireland are White and there is almost a 50/50 split between individuals that identify as heterosexual and homosexual. Worryingly, it is estimated that 25% of people living with HIV/AIDS in Northern Ireland do not know their positive status and therefore may be unwittingly spreading the virus. Danny McQuillan of the HIV Support Centre stated that the biggest problem to overcome in Northern Ireland is “challenging the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS in order to increase the number of people accessing testing facilities as well as the available methods of treatment and prevention.”
Nevertheless, HIV/AIDS is an even greater challenge for developing countries such as Uganda where 1.2 million people currently live with HIV/AIDS and 64,000 die each year of AIDS related illnesses. Northern Ireland’s All Party Group on International Development, chaired by Conall McDevitt MLA, recently chose Uganda as Northern Ireland’s partner country for its international development strategy. Focusing on the North-eastern regions of Teso and Karamoja, the strategy aims to concentrate the work of Northern Irish aid agencies in order to make maximum impact and help the regions achieve the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals, including combating HIV/AIDS. It is vital in these times of austerity that the social and political commitment to provide support to Uganda increases rather than decreases in order to maintain the progress that has already been made. However, the UK Government is reducing bilateral aid for HIV/AIDS in developing countries. It is vital that this counteracted through other funding increases, particularly in multilateral aid delivered through the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.
The response to HIV/AIDS, both in Northern Ireland and countries such as Uganda, is never going to be simple. But there is now a roadmap demonstrating precisely how we can turn the tables on this terrible disease. Countless lives can be saved by investing in this response, but as importantly, by preventing new infections we can dramatically reduce the costs of future treatment. Investing now will save lives and produce long term social and economic benefits for the global community.
On this World AIDS Day, December 1st, the challenge is on society and politicians to a renewed effort to end AIDS by advocating the importance of investing in treatment now. Minister of Health, Edwin Poots, must continue to challenge the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS and make it a public health priority in both policy and practice. Meanwhile, the All Party Group for International development must lobby the UK government to ensure that funding for HIV/AIDS development initiatives increase rather than decrease. It is time for the people of Northern Ireland and their elected officials to step-up to the challenge posed by HIV/AIDS and work towards saving millions of lives and millions of pounds in the future, thereby contributing to building a more resilient, safer and healthier world. The tools and the know-how are there, now we just need the political will.

Tags: Edwin Poots, HIV, Living with Stigma, WAD11, World Aids Day

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