Treatment preparedness summit closes - Olayide Akanni, Nigeria ******************************* Treatment preparedness summit closes Cape Town, South Africa, March 17, 2003: At the closing of the first International Treatment Preparedness Summit (ITPS) today in Cape Town, South Africa, participants detailed a number of priority actions to address the inequalities that prevent millions of people living with HIV/AIDS from securing access to treatment. At the end of the four-day meeting attended by over 120 representatives of treatment advocacy groups from 67 countries across the world, delegates agreed that current treatment efforts were insufficient. They therefore called for: * National governments to develop treatment plans detailing how they intend to implement the World Health Organisation's goal of ensuring ARV treatment for at least 3 million people in the developing world by 2005 * Inclusion of treatment education in national HIV/AIDS programmes * Stronger and more active participation of PLWHA and representatives of civil society groups on the Country Coordinating Mechanisms in each country to encourage the submission of more comprehensive treatment proposals * Greater commitment and contribution to the Global Fund from the G8, industrialized countries, and multilateral agencies "This summit has opened my eyes to what is happening regarding access to treatment all over the world. Our populations are dying and our governments are not doing anything. We have the power, the right and the duty to demand that our governments do this. We will fight to ensure that our governments make cheap, effective generic drugs available right now", said Cyriaque Ako, from RIP+ in Cote d'Ivoire. "There is a growing frustration about how the Global Fund has been operating since its inception", said Mauro Guarinieri of the European AIDS Treatment Group. "We urge the G8 countries to uphold WHO's goal by making the resources available to the Global Fund. We are committed to making the Fund work and we will hold the G8 accountable to ensuring that it does". Olive Edwards, representing the Jamaican Network of Seropositives said, "It is evident from deliberations over the past few days, that we need a wholistic approach to treatment, particularly coming from a country like mine where sex and sexuality issues are not discussed. This meeting has given us all the drive that is needed to get us out of our passive state". Kamylk Anastasia from the Positive Movement in Byelorussia also noted that the meeting had "made me realize the power that lies within PLWHA. "Many PLWHA in my country find it difficult to speak about their right to life because of stigma and discrimination. Now I know it is important that we as PLWHA must demand for implementation of GIPA principles, and advocate for ourselves", she noted. Gregg Gonsalves of the US-based Gay Men's Health Crisis(GHMC), one of the main organizers of the meeting, said the meeting once again brought to the fore the dire need for increased advocacy among treatment activists. "It is up to PLWHA and advocates to make treatment access including the WHO goal happen. Nothing will work unless we push for it. It's the history of the AIDS pandemic. "It is evident from this meeting and action plans being proposed by all regions represented here that a strong international movement is evolving which will ensure that our goals of making treatment access available is reached", Gonsalves said. Organised by a global coalition of treatment groups including South Africa's Treatment Access Campaign and the Gay Men's Health Crisis, based in San Francisco, United States, the ITPS featured several reports on the state of treatment availability in each region of the world and in particular countries. There were also training sessions on treatment education and challenges of treatment advocacy. The summit also presented an opportunity for a meting of the Pan-African HIV/AIDS Treatment Access Movement (PATAM), the continental treatment movement which was founded last August. The PATAM meeting reviewed progress made since last year and came up with a number of strategies to strengthen sub-regional networking among member-groups. Some of the steps taken include the establishment of tentative structures and action plans by member-organisations from each of the four sub-regions (West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa and Southern Africa). Olayide Akanni Nigeria-AIDS eForum correspondent Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) Nigeria Email: jaaidsng@nigeria-aids.org A posting from AF-AIDS (af-aids@healthdev.net) *********** AF-AIDS is the regional forum on HIV/AIDS in Africa, moderated by the Health & Development Networks Moderation Team (HDN, www.hdnet.org) with technical support from Health Systems Trust (HST) on behalf of the AF-AIDS Policy and Steering Committee (HST, HDN & SAfAIDS) The views expressed in this forum do not necessarily reflect those of HDN, HST or SAfAIDS. Reproduction welcomed provided source is cited as follows: Copyright AF-AIDS 2002 [Internet: http://archives.healthdev.net/af-aids Email: af-aids@healthdev.net]