This Comment was written by women living with HIV previously involved in a global values and preferences survey on the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) priorities of women living with HIV in response to the Lancet Global Health's article on "Investing in sexual and reproductive health and rights to reach HIV and universal health coverage goals." It builds on key points highlighted in their survey, Building a Safe House on Firm…
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FOUND 651
Investing in sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls to reach HIV and UHC goals
Huge gaps in access to basic sexual and reproductive health services, pose serious challenges to achieving universal health coverage (UHC) by 2030. These gaps in access are heightened by reduced financing for international development and highlight the importance and urgency of strengthening linkages between HIV and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) programmes. This article highlights three key strategies to address these gaps,…
Ending the AIDS epidemic among children, adolescents and young women requires ambitious targets and a Super-Fast-Track approach. Building on the successes of the Global Plan towards the elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive, UNAIDS, the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and partners launched Start Free Stay Free AIDS Free in 2016 to provide a framework for the…
In 2016, 89% of pregnant women living with HIV in Eastern and Southern Africa received antiretroviral treatment to prevent vertical transmission of HIV. Despite this scale-up, in the same region, an estimated 77,000 children (0-14 years) acquired HIV in 2016. AIDS-related illness remains the leading cause of death for women of reproductive age (15-49 years) globally. With countries now providing lifelong treatment to pregnant women living…
The Asia-Pacific region has witnessed progress in ending the HIV epidemic, with a decrease in AIDS-related deaths, increased access to treatment, higher domestic financing, and notable improvements in addressing stigma and discrimination. Yet, challenges related to ending the HIV epidemic persist with respect to gender relations and inequalities. An adequate response to the gender dimension of the HIV epidemic requires public policies that…
The primary purpose of this Guidance on Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) for the HIV response in Asia and the Pacific is to offer top management, national planners, and civil society organizations a resource on how to integrate gender equality into HIV policy and planning. The note is based on a paper prepared for UN Women on …
With support from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada, this video recaps UN Women's innovative small grants programme in sub-Saharan Africa aimed to increase access of HIV-affected women to their property and inheritance rights to reduce their vulnerabilities to and mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS.
UN Women's Director of Policy, Purna Sen, speaks with UN Women Policy Specialist Elena Kudravtseva on women living with HIV and AIDS.
Despite great progress made against HIV globally, the gains are not shared equally. The numbers are staggering. They show that teen girls and young women bear a greater risk than their male peers. Only by understanding the magnitude of the problem facing adolescent girls and young women can we accelerate the end of HIV as an epidemic. As a response, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has launched the 'HER' Initiative,…
This toolkit provides a framework for accountability in action, to put women and girls in all of their diversity at the center and to bring a feminist, gender transformative lens across policy development, program implementation, research, strategies, and initiatives. Throughout, it offers examples of effective ways to inform, engage, and foster leadership among women, including young women and adolescent girls, and provide ideas for everyone to…
To end the growing HIV epidemic among young women, human rights violations must be addressed. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have the potential to help, but only if political barriers are overcome and a rights-based approach is integrated. We have long known that biomedical interventions alone will not curb the HIV epidemic among young women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa. The history of the global response to HIV is ripe with…
In 2016, an estimated 1.5 million adolescent girls and young women were living with HIV infection in Eastern and Southern Africa, where HIV prevalence among adolescent girls and young women is more than twice that of their male peers. In this report, analysis of data from Population-based HIV Impact Assessment surveys conducted during 2015–2017 in seven countries in Eastern and Southern Africa found that the prevalence of HIV infection among…
Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) plays a central role in the preparation of young people for a safe, productive, fulfilling life in a world where HIV and AIDS, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unintended pregnancies, gender-based violence (GBV) and gender inequality still pose serious risks to their well-being. However, despite clear and compelling evidence for the benefits of high-quality, curriculum-based CSE, few…
There is rightly a huge global effort to enable women living with HIV to have long, productive lives through treatment access. To improve women's health and know how to best optimize facilitators and minimize barriers to access and adherence, more needs to be understood about these issues from women's own perspectives. In this study, women's key barriers in accessing HIV treatment was reviewed in three phases through: a literature review,…
Oral PrEP will reach women who need it if PrEP programs are well-supported and prepared. A collaboration between LVCT Health in Kenya and AVAC, through the USAID-funded OPTIONS Consortium, this video series shows how LVCT Health made changes at the site level and helped women interested in oral PrEP overcome recurring barriers to uptake and adherence.
Each film in the series highlights a different theme or challenge that emerged as…
In February-March of 2016, the charitable organization Positive Women conducted research on women and HIV, which generated information on stigma, discrimination and the values and needs of women living with HIV and AIDS. The researchers intended to explore important aspects of women's lives related to their sexual and reproductive health, gender equality, human rights and gender-based violence, as well as their economic and political…
The latest update from PEPFAR shares many successes from their Global Results, including their DREAMS program to prevent HIV infection among adolescent girls and young women. The update reported a 25-40% decline in new HIV diagnoses among adolescent girls and young women through the DREAMS program. In the 10 African countries (63 districts) implementing the programs, the majority (65% or 41) of the highest HIV-burden districts achieved a…
This paper reviews the evidence for how the What Works for Women and Girls: Evidence for HIV/AIDS Interventions (hereafter What Works) knowledge translation platform has made a difference in the global AIDS response. With an aim to increase use of evidence in policies and programmes to reach women and girls, the paper asks: What difference has What Works made? Has evidence from it informed the policies and programmes of donors? Has it informed…
UNAIDS’ Right to health report makes it clear that states have basic human rights obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the right to health. The report gives voice to the communities most affected by HIV on what the right to health means to them. Wherever the right to health is compromised, HIV spreads. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, 67% of new HIV infections among young people are among young women and girls aged between 15…
The ALIV[H]E Framework is a UNAIDS commissioned consortium in partnership with Salamander Trust, ATHENA, AIDS Legal Network, Project Empower, University of Kwazulu-Natal and HEARD. Implementing and research partners for this Framework spanned across Kenya, India, Malawi, South Africa, South Sudan and Zimbabwe. Despite the growing body of evidence linking VAW and HIV, very few programmatic frameworks exist to address this intersection.
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