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HIV/AIDS

AIDS is the most devastating pandemic humankind has ever faced, inflicting the single greatest reversal in human development. 33.2 million people are currently living with HIV with millions more affected by parallel epidemics of poverty, stigma and discrimination. 25 million people have died in the twenty-five years since AIDS was first reported.

Although the global prevalence of HIV infection has leveled off, the global number of persons living with HIV is increasing because of ongoing new infections with longer survival times, measured over a continuously growing general population. The societal and economic impact of HIV will span generations with 2.5 million children estimated to be living with HIV in 2007 and an estimated 11.4 million orphans due to AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa alone. Despite a significant increase in funding and resources, the epidemic continues to undermine efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals and to outpace the global response.

For Trócaire, the linkages between HIV and AIDS, poverty and justice are undeniable. A failure to address vulnerability to HIV and the impact of AIDS on development will undermine all efforts to lift people out of poverty and will reinforce inequalities. Addressing gender inequality is central to this response.

Trócaire takes a two-pronged approach to HIV – addressing HIV in all development programmes and supporting partner organisations who provide prevention, care and treatment services and challenge injustices and inequalities that perpetrate the spread of the virus. Trócaire spends almost €3 million annually on HIV and AIDS, a figure that is expected to rise over the coming five years.

In sectors such as livelihoods, Trócaire is assisting partners to modify their programmes for a world with AIDS. Research supported by Trócaire in southern Africa indicate that families affected by HIV are vulnerable to food shortages immediately after harvesting and require food aid 2-3 months earlier than previously thought. Programmes also need to be modified to be appropriate for child headed households, carers and for people with limited or no assets as a result of the impact of HIV and AIDS.

In responding to the pandemic, Trócaire works with organisations who provide prevention, care and treatment in a way that supports national efforts, deals with the holistic needs of individuals and acknowledges the poverty dimension of the epidemic. Income generating activities, life-skills, psychosocial support and education are considered to be integral parts of a holistic approach to care and treatment.

While treatment is becoming more readily available, organisations encounter practical constraints to treatment access including poor nutritional levels of individuals, distance of centres and associated transport cost. Organisations in East Africa have shown that low cost use of multivitamin and antibiotics can have a marked impact on people’s quality of life in the absence of antiretroviral therapy. At an advocacy level, organisations are supported to lobby for improved access to treatment at community level and greater access to global funding.

Underpinning all responses is a commitment to address the gender dimension of the epidemic. Women account for half of all adult cases globally and almost 61% of people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa in 2007. Women’s lack of empowerment and violence against women continue to fuel the spread of the epidemic deepening stigma and reinforcing inequalities. Trócaire believes that HIV cannot be tackled until we successfully challenge gender inequality and promote full participation of women at all levels of the response and in policy and decision-making.

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