Living With HIV

Source : http://www.unaids.org/

Almost 40 million men, women and children are living with HIV today. People living with HIV often understand each other's situation better than anyone else and are well placed to educate, counsel and advise one another. Around the world, wherever HIV is present, people living with HIV have established support and advocacy groups and networks. Increasingly, members of these groups are called on participate in decision and policy making forums.

Since AIDS emerged, people living with HIV have been a key driving force in the AIDS response and few of the advances made in the last 25 years would have happened without the tremendous efforts, expertise and advocacy of people living with HIV and affected communities. With appropriate support, people living with HIV can and must take a central role in their own country, region, or locality in the direction and delivery of AIDS programmes. Their involvement gives personal power and immediacy to AIDS efforts, improves the relevance of programmes and inspires others into action.

Today the principle of greater and meaningful involvement of people living with HIV is central to many interventions worldwide, People living with HIV are involved in a wide variety of activities at all levels of the AIDS response; from sharing their personal stories and supporting others locally through counseling and treatment literacy initiatives to participating in major global decision and policy-making activities.

Yet there is still much to be done to maximize the participation of people living with HIV in the AIDS response. One crucial aspect is the need to build the capacity of organizations and networks of people living with HIV and ensure their sustainable funding. This is essential if they are to participate fully in the response and properly represent the needs of their constituencies. Capacity building can include assistance for strategic planning and to build organizational, managerial, programmatic, communications and financial expertise within the organization.
Tackling the stigma and discrimination experienced by many people living with HIV and affected communities is also fundamental to creating the kind of environment where people living with HIV can contribute in a meaningful way.

People living have been at the forefront of advocating for universal access to treatment. Ensuring people living with HIV have universal access to treatment, along with appropriate prevention and care services, must go hand with the efforts described above.