Aids Care Watch
The AIDS-Care-Watch (ACW) Campaign is a global advocacy and awareness raising effort aimed at improving knowledge of the methods and techniques to extend and improve the quality of life for people with HIV/AIDS who cannot access antiretroviral (ARV) medications.
The need for such an effort emerged during the International AIDS Conference in Bangkok (2004), where it became clear that the large-scale AIDS treatment initiatives (such as the World Health Organization (WHO)'s '3 by 5' initiative) were unlikely to meet their AIDS treatment goals as soon as needed or expected. At present, only a small fraction of the 6 million people who need ARV medications have access to these drugs.
According to ACW, there are many ways to extend the lives of the millions of people living with HIV who are not able to afford or access ARV treatment in the next few years, but knowledge about these practices is not universal. The ACW theme of 'Staying Alive with HIV' is about disseminating that message and providing those who are infected and their caregivers with 'best practice' information.
The campaign does not intend to detract from current ARV treatment advocacy efforts - the ACW believes that this must be additional to those efforts. The campaign statement of purpose explicitly states that the provision of other HIV/AIDS prophylaxis and treatment options are not an excuse for governments, international agencies, or communities to slow down or do less towards expanding ARV programmes.
The ACW campaign was initially launched as a pilot project in India on December 7 2004 at the International Community Care and Support Conference for People Living with HIV in Mumbai, India. Since the initial launch in India, over 200 organisations have signed on as campaign partners and the word about ACW appears to be quickly spreading around the world. The AIDS-Care-Watch campaign was launched globally on March 24 2005 - World Tuberculosis Day.
The need for such an effort emerged during the International AIDS Conference in Bangkok (2004), where it became clear that the large-scale AIDS treatment initiatives (such as the World Health Organization (WHO)'s '3 by 5' initiative) were unlikely to meet their AIDS treatment goals as soon as needed or expected. At present, only a small fraction of the 6 million people who need ARV medications have access to these drugs.
According to ACW, there are many ways to extend the lives of the millions of people living with HIV who are not able to afford or access ARV treatment in the next few years, but knowledge about these practices is not universal. The ACW theme of 'Staying Alive with HIV' is about disseminating that message and providing those who are infected and their caregivers with 'best practice' information.
The campaign does not intend to detract from current ARV treatment advocacy efforts - the ACW believes that this must be additional to those efforts. The campaign statement of purpose explicitly states that the provision of other HIV/AIDS prophylaxis and treatment options are not an excuse for governments, international agencies, or communities to slow down or do less towards expanding ARV programmes.
The ACW campaign was initially launched as a pilot project in India on December 7 2004 at the International Community Care and Support Conference for People Living with HIV in Mumbai, India. Since the initial launch in India, over 200 organisations have signed on as campaign partners and the word about ACW appears to be quickly spreading around the world. The AIDS-Care-Watch campaign was launched globally on March 24 2005 - World Tuberculosis Day.
Communication Strategies
The ACW campaign provides an avenue for treatment promoters worldwide to unite and advocate for a comprehensive care package for people living with HIV/AIDS. The goal of the campaign is to reduce the number of preventable HIV/AIDS-related deaths each year. To reach this goal, ACW is compiling evidence about care services available to people living with HIV/AIDS. Through a set of shared comprehensive care concerns, and a set of unified and resonant advocacy messages, the campaign also hopes to hold institutions and organisations accountable to their previous AIDS care commitments.
The ACW contends that there are three primary ways people living with HIV/AIDS (PWHA) can survive the long wait for ARVs:
ACW contends that employers, academic institutions, civil society groups, PWHA networks, health workers, media representatives, government bodies, advocacy groups, pharmaceutical companies and faith-based organisations should be giving more urgent attention to many of the relatively simple approaches to keeping people with HIV alive. Many of them are already readily available, affordable and effective.
These include:
To highlight one example of a campaign action being undertaken in part through the use of this website, ACW is compiling qualitative evidence and opinion from its civil society partners on progress made towards implementing the commitments made in the 2001 United Nations (UN) General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. Participation is a key strategy in this effort, which asks non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and PWHA networks to visit the ACW website and complete a short UNGASS interview. This call is intended to help support the requirement articulated in the Declaration of Commitment that governments should “ensure a participatory and transparent approach throughout the reporting process”. ACW's aim is to encourage and enable civil society groups to be included in the national review and reporting processes.
The ACW contends that there are three primary ways people living with HIV/AIDS (PWHA) can survive the long wait for ARVs:
- Ensuring widespread access to other comprehensive care and treatment options: for example, helping people to discover their HIV status, to delay their progression to AIDS, and to prevent and treat HIV-associated conditions;
- Improving health literacy among people living with HIV: particularly in relation to 'early' HIV-associated conditions, their prevention, management and drug treatment;
- Identifying and minimising the factors that accelerate the development of AIDS-related conditions.
ACW contends that employers, academic institutions, civil society groups, PWHA networks, health workers, media representatives, government bodies, advocacy groups, pharmaceutical companies and faith-based organisations should be giving more urgent attention to many of the relatively simple approaches to keeping people with HIV alive. Many of them are already readily available, affordable and effective.
These include:
- Voluntary counselling and testing for HIV as the entry point for access to all health care services and self-management
- Prevention and treatment of tuberculosis (TB) in people living with HIV
- Drugs to treat/prevent other opportunistic infections (e.g., cotrimoxazole, fluconazole, etc.)
- Home- and community-based care approaches
- Tackling HIV-related stigma, especially in health care settings, which often keeps people away from health services
- Pharmacotherapy (e.g., methadone) for recovering injection drug users
- Traditional healing and treatment approaches
- Promoting food security and micronutrient provision
To highlight one example of a campaign action being undertaken in part through the use of this website, ACW is compiling qualitative evidence and opinion from its civil society partners on progress made towards implementing the commitments made in the 2001 United Nations (UN) General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. Participation is a key strategy in this effort, which asks non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and PWHA networks to visit the ACW website and complete a short UNGASS interview. This call is intended to help support the requirement articulated in the Declaration of Commitment that governments should “ensure a participatory and transparent approach throughout the reporting process”. ACW's aim is to encourage and enable civil society groups to be included in the national review and reporting processes.
Development Issues
HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB).
Key Points
ACW believes that 2005 is a particularly significant year and a potential 'tipping point' in relation to HIV/AIDS care. A further 3 million people will die as a result of largely preventable and treatable AIDS-related conditions. 2005 is also the mid-point benchmark for the prior commitment by the international community in relation to AIDS care - the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, signed by all Member States of the UN, which made explicit pledges to "… make significant progress in implementing comprehensive [HIV/AIDS] care strategies" by 2005.
In addition, in 2005 the WHO '3 by 5' initiative also reaches its own benchmark and, according to ACW, it will be vital to know whether it has succeeded in ensuring access to ARVs for 3 million people in the developing world.
With the Millennium Campaign gaining momentum, 2005 will likely also be an important turning point in relation to the Millennium Development Goals.
Each of these above declarations and commitments include explicit statements by all governments of what they can and should be held accountable for when it comes to HIV/AIDS-related care.
In addition, in 2005 the WHO '3 by 5' initiative also reaches its own benchmark and, according to ACW, it will be vital to know whether it has succeeded in ensuring access to ARVs for 3 million people in the developing world.
With the Millennium Campaign gaining momentum, 2005 will likely also be an important turning point in relation to the Millennium Development Goals.
Each of these above declarations and commitments include explicit statements by all governments of what they can and should be held accountable for when it comes to HIV/AIDS-related care.
Partners
The ACW site lists well over 250 organisations, agencies, and firms as partners.
Sources
AIDS-Care-Watch website; and email from Abigail Erikson to The Communication Initiative on September 15 2005.
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