Foreword
Executive summary
Building a culture of democracy
Promoting the rule of law and human rights
Economic opportunities Supporting social development
Education: Addressing the MDGs Health Goals
Health Goals HIV and AIDS – A Commonwealth Challenge
Opportunities for Young People
Sport and the Commonwealth The Secretariat and its partners
Appendices
HIV and AIDS – A Commonwealth Challenge
Of some 40 million people globally living with HIV/AIDS, 60 per cent are Commonwealth citizens. The nine most heavily infected countries are all Commonwealth members. HIV/AIDS is a major Commonwealth development challenge.

 

AIDS education in Botswana

Globally, about half of those living with HIV/AIDS are women. But in developing countries, young women and girls comprise 64 per cent of all young people with HIV/AIDS. Women and girls represent an increasing proportion of people living with HIV compared to five years ago, and the numbers of children infected continue to grow. HIV/AIDS is a serious health issue in its own right but also has a negative impact on the achievement of all the MDGs.

The Secretariat assists member countries in developing a multi-sectoral and rights-based response to HIV/AIDS. It disseminates information on current and emerging issues, brokers partnerships with other agencies, and acts as a catalyst to strengthen HIV/AIDS policy, programmes and plans of member countries. Its projects address unequal gender relations, the involvement of young people, public sector capacity-building, education, and trade issues as they relate to HIV/AIDS.

Partnerships and networking are critical to the Secretariat’s response. It works with governmental, regional, international, civil society and private sector agencies to scale up the impact of its advocacy and technical assistance, seeking to complement and not duplicate the work of partner organisations.

The Secretariat uses high-level advocacy to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS at ministerial and Heads of Government meetings, and in interactions with other international organisations and partners. It also spreads awareness and information through publications such as three titles on HIV/AIDS produced in the past two years, which have been widely used in health worker training programmes.

The Commonwealth programme ‘Men Can Make a Difference’ supports the constructive involvement of men in activities designed to reduce gender inequalities and minimise the impact of HIV and AIDS. Workshops for West and Southern Africa held in 2004 resulted in the development of country strategies to address the involvement of men in HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support.

HIV/AIDS and human resources

The Secretariat has organised awareness-raising workshops in the Caribbean, Mediterranean and Southern African regions to alert governments to the dangers the HIV/AIDS pandemic presents to public sector human resources.

An Expert Group meeting in London in March 2004 aimed at improving public sector performance in the light of the devastating social and economic impact of HIV/AIDS, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. A consultative meeting in April 2005 in South Africa sought to identify tools, models and systems for the measurement, management and mitigation of HIV/AIDS, and projections for personnel requirements.

Coping with disaster: doctors in Maldives

Following the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster in December 2004, the Government of Maldives sought relief assistance to help cope with the consequences of the earthquake and resulting tsunami which hit the country along with others in the region. The Commonwealth Secretariat assigned a disaster management expert who assisted in assessing reconstruction needs in the affected areas, and provided inputs into short and longer-term national reconstruction strategies. This led to an overall national reconstruction plan and helped strengthen the national disaster plan to deal with future natural disasters.

The disaster management expert recommended that the Secretariat consider providing additional support. Subsequently, the Maldives Government requested Secretariat support in the health sector, for medical professionals to provide medical services on the outer islands.

By June 2005, 19 volunteer doctors had been placed for periods ranging from one to six months, and five had completed their assignments. Fourteen volunteer doctors were still working at various medical facilities in the outer islands of Maldives, providing health relief, medical care and support to the island populations. The project is managed by the Secretariat and the Ministry of Health in Maldives. It is funded under the CFTC, with an additional £200,000 in co-funding provided by NZAID in response to an appeal by the Secretary-General to Commonwealth countries.

Applying a gender and youth lens

National HIV/AIDS strategic plans developed by Commonwealth countries in the 1990s were generally health-focused and did not consider issues of gender and the specific needs of young people. The Secretariat has undertaken a number of initiatives to address these gaps.

The International Institute for Gender and HIV/AIDS (IIGHA) offers technical assistance to various stakeholders engaged in HIV/AIDS work. Co-developed by the Secretariat and the Atlantic Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health, Dalhousie University, Canada, the IIGHA works with other agencies to maximise opportunities and promote partnerships. It is being promoted regionally within the Commonwealth: first held in Southern Africa, it is currently being implemented in the Caribbean.

The Secretariat designed a project to review national HIV/AIDS strategic plans from the perspective of young people in the Pacific region in 2003. In July 2004, the CYP Africa Centre and other partners facilitated a regional dialogue involving Cyprus, Kenya, Seychelles, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania. The aim was to develop youth-specific plans to strengthen national HIV/AIDS responses through capacity-building for young people, and the incorporation of youth participation and gender-sensitive principles into national HIV/AIDS policies and practices.

Trade in pharmaceuticals

Many Commonwealth developing countries depend on external sources of supply for essential medicines to address HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Problems in making affordable drugs available are likely to worsen with the end of WTO transitional arrangements for the extension of product patent protection to pharmaceuticals in 2005.

The 2003 WTO General Council Decision on access to medicines at affordable prices for countries with insufficient or no manufacturing capacities for pharmaceutical products offers an important avenue for addressing this problem. The Secretariat is assisting Commonwealth developing countries in establishing frameworks and procedures for implementing the WTO decision. A workshop in October 2004 in Geneva explored how countries could take advantage of the flexibilities of the WTO trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS) agreement, and implement it in a way consistent with their obligations while also meeting their public health requirements.

Under the Secretariat’s programme of assistance on TRIPS, national and regional case-studies were commissioned to assess the regulatory framework, possibly including regional patenting systems, required to maximise the benefits to be obtained from the WTO decision. This programme should help promote poverty reduction and sustainable development, and address public health issues consistent with international obligations. The Secretariat’s work on these issues has attracted the co-operation of other international agencies, including the WHO, UK Department for International Development, UNCTAD, International Trade Centre and WTO.

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