Sharan Burrow
Today, on World AIDS Day 2011, the ITUC joins with people across the world in memory of those who have lost their lives to AIDS. This year is a special anniversary. 2011 marks 30 years since the first case of AIDS was identified, 10 years since the UN General Assembly’s Special Session on AIDS (UNGASS) meeting, 5 years since the 2006 UN High Level Meeting that made an unequivocal commitment to attain universal access by 2010 and 1 year since the adoption of the ILO HIV and AIDS Recommendation no. 200 (2010), the first ever international human rights standard to focus specifically on HIV and AIDS.
Almost 34 million people live with HIV worldwide and more than 7,000 new infections occur every day. About 64% of people eligible for Anti-Retro-Viral (ARV) treatment – meaning that they are already in a severe stage of AIDS - in low and middle-income countries continue to have no access to life saving treatment. Young people (aged 15-24) account for 42% of the new HIV infections among adults.
Trade unions around the world will be using today as a focus to promote action on HIV and AIDS in the workplace and to call for renewed international commitment to tackle the pandemic, on the basis of shared ownership of the AIDS response.
