Role of Key populations key in fighting HIV/AIDS
Gays, lesbians, sex workers and drug addicts ,among others, seem to have won the sympathy of multi-national donor agencies and stakeholders in the global HIV response at the just-ended Melbourne 2014 International AIDS Conference as more funding is set to be channelled towards interventions that address their challengess.
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Almost all the major speakers throughout the five-day conference charged governments all over the world to recognise the rights and dignity of key populations in their respective countries as a potent step towards the global response to HIV and AIDS.
Key populations
Key populations are made up of men who sleep with men (MSM), transgender people, sex workers (SWs),females who sleep with females (FSF) and people who inject themselves with drugs, as well as prisoners, according to the UNAIDS.
According to UNAIDS, over 50 per cent of new HIV infections in 2013 were among the key populations, hence the need to recognise their vulnerability and accord them the right to access treatment and prevention while preventing discrimination.
The AIDS 2014 International Conference at Melbourne, organised by the International AIDS Society (IAS) on the theme, “Stepping up the pace,” brought together over 12,000 delegates from over 200 countries to discuss the global HIV response.
Ghana’s intervention
In Ghana, though the general HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is about 1.3 per cent, the regional rates are between 0.8 and 3.7 per cent. However, the prevalence rate among the key populations is significantly high, according to the Ghana Strategic Document on HIV/AIDS.
The key populations are mainly MSM, female sex workers and those who inject themselves with drugs. For instance, the prevalence rate among MSM is 17.5 per cent, while that of female sex workers is 11.1 per cent.
To address the situation in Ghana, the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) has designed programmes targeting the key populations with interventions so that they do not continue to spread the disease.
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Key populations’ position
At the conference, therefore, the key populations justified the need to recognise them as legitimate groups in the fight against the HIV and AIDS pandemic.
They claimed that for the world to make meaning of the slogan, “no one is left behind” in the fight against HIV and AIDS, it was time society accepted them for who they were and accorded them the dignity and respect they deserved as human beings.
Barriers
The IAS expressed worry that laws in many countries all over the world continue to criminalise key populations, describing such an act as a serious barrier to the global response to HIV and AIDS.
The outgoing President of IAS, Professor Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, said there was no justification for a society, based on its cultural beliefs and norms, to discriminate against and stigmatise people simply because of their sexual orientation.
“There will be no end of AIDS without ensuring respect and dignity of all people, equity in access to health services and social justice,” she said, citing countries such as Nigeria, Russia, Uganda ,among others, as countries whose laws were inimical to key populations.
Melbourne Declaration
At the end of the conference, over 2,000 delegates affirmed that non-discrimination was fundamental to an evidence-based, rights-based and gender transformative response to HIV and effective public health programmes.
Dubbed: The Melbourne Declaration, the delegates declared that to defeat HIV and achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, nobody should be criminalised or discriminated against because of their gender, age, race, ethnicity, disability, religious or spiritual beliefs. Same treatment should also not be meted out to people because of their country of origin, national status, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a sex worker, prisoner or detainee, because they use or have used illicit drugs or because they are living with HIV.
“We affirm that all women, men, transgender and intersex adults and children are entitled to equal rights and to equal access to HIV prevention, care and treatment information and services. The promotion of gender equity is essential to HIV responses that truly meet the needs of those who are most affected.
“Additionally, people who sell or who have sold sex, and people who use, or who have used illicit drugs are entitled to the same rights as everyone else, including non-discrimination and confidentiality in access to HIV care and treatment services.
“We express our shared and profound concern at the continued enforcement of discriminatory, stigmatising, criminalising and harmful laws which lead to policies and practices that increase vulnerability to HIV. These laws, policies and practices incite extreme violence towards marginalised populations, reinforce stigma and undermine HIV programmes, and as such are significant steps backward for social justice, equality, human rights and access to healthcare for both people living with HIV and those most at risk of acquiring the virus,” the declaration stressed.
Writer’s Email: severious.dery@graphic.com.gh