[health-vn] FAMILIES CAN BE PROTECTIVE FORCE AGAINST HIV, SAYS SENIOR UN OFFICIAL

[Vern Weitzel]

Subject: FAMILIES CAN BE PROTECTIVE FORCE AGAINST HIV, SAYS SENIOR UN OFFICIAL
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:05:04 -0500
From: UNNews <UNNews at un.org>
To: <news9 at secint00.un.org>

FAMILIES CAN BE PROTECTIVE FORCE AGAINST HIV, SAYS SENIOR UN OFFICIAL
New York, Jan 28 2010 11:05AM
HIV and AIDS place greater burdens on families, who can sometimes be torn apart 
by the epidemic, but they are also a major force in prevention education as well 
as care and support, according to the head of the United Nations agency dealing 
with the issue.

“Family support can improve adherence to treatment, provide sustaining care and 
offer the first line of defence against stigma and isolation. And in the largest 
sense, strong families contribute to community – and by extension national – 
stability,” Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of the Joint UN Programme on 
HIV/AIDS (<"http://www.unaids.org/en/default.asp">UNAIDS), said yesterday in his 
keynote address to a colloquium in Doha, Qatar, where scholars gathered to 
discuss issues affecting the family.

Mr. Sidibé noted that communities with higher burdens struggle to shield their 
children from infection and to care for those who have lost parents to the 
disease. “Yes, families can be, and are, torn apart by AIDS,” he 
<"http://data.unaids.org/pub/SpeechEXD/2010/20100127_sp_doha_families_en.pdf">stated.

“But let’s look at this another way: Families can also be highly protective, 
inoculating members against the worst outcomes of AIDS. They offer a dependable 
means of prevention education and the clout to keep children in school, on track 
and out of risk,” he added.

He highlighted recent findings from the two-year research project of the Joint 
Learning Initiative on Children and HIV/AIDS, which showed that families take on 
approximately 90 per cent of the financial cost of caring for infected and 
affected children. Many of these families are already living in extreme poverty, 
yet few receive any support from sources outside their communities.

“Maintaining and strengthening families is not very expensive,” said Mr. Sidibé. 
“Any developing country, no matter how poor, can afford a social protection 
package for children affected by HIV and AIDS and extreme poverty.”

The International Labour Organization (ILO), he said, estimates that for 
low-income African countries, such a package could cost less than 4.5 per cent 
of gross domestic product (GDP), and could include a small universal old-age 
pension, universal primary education, free primary health care, and a child 
benefit of 25 cents per day.

The UNAIDS chief cited as another key concern the freedom of movement for people 
living with HIV, particularly migrant workers and their families.

According to the agency, Qatar – like many others in the Middle East and North 
African region – imposes restriction on entry, stay and residence based on HIV 
status. Such restrictions are widely considered discriminatory and serve no 
public health benefit, it noted.

UNAIDS also pointed out that the HIV epidemic is steadily growing in the Middle 
East and North Africa. In 2008 there were an estimated 310,000 people living 
with HIV, up from 200,000 in 2001. In that same year, approximately 35,000 
people became newly infected with HIV in the region.