|
 |
 |
 |
|
Media releases > Stephen Lewis in London
(22 October 2004)
Stephen Lewis the UN Special Envoy for HIV AIDS in Africa will be in London next Tuesday, 26th October to launch a new campaign on behalf of the STOP AIDS coalition (members of which include VSO, Oxfam and Save the Children).
The launch takes place on Tuesday between 10am and noon in the Boothroyd Room at Portcullis House. Mr Lewis will be available for interview directly afterwards for an hour. To schedule an interview, contact Kirsty McNeill at STOP AIDS on +44 (0)7887 856 571.
The campaign calls on the UK Government to set out a timetable for action on their promises on universal access to treatment. It is bolstered by a new report, ‘ACT NOW’, which sets out sensible ways to overcome the barriers to achieving universal treatment and care.
Stephen Lewis says:
In terms of HIV and AIDS, it is vital that the world understands that treatment transforms everything. Treatment of course cannot be allowed to eclipse the difficult issues around prevention, testing and care but treatment is now the sine qua non of the AIDS response.
Currently only 8% of people in need of anti-retroviral drugs in developing countries get them. The WHO’s initiative to get 3 million people on treatment by 2005 looks likely to miss its targets. The STOP AIDS report suggests that what is lacking is effective political leadership and that in 2005 the UK has a real opportunity to change that.
Kirsty McNeil from the STOP AIDS coalition says:
The UK government has stated its commitment to universal access to treatment but no timetable has been set for its achievement. 38 million people need action now, not warm words and a promise of further discussions.
The campaign specifically calls on the international community to:
- Act to strengthen health systems in developing countries
- Ensure the international community provides the necessary and appropriate financing
- Promote lowered prices for ARV drugs and other essential medicines through reform of trade rules
Kirsty adds that:
Tuesday fires the starting gun for a race that ends at the G8 in Gleneagles next July. Between now and then we will continue to put pressure on the UK Government and enable people in the UK to get involved in sending a clear message to Tony Blair to ACT NOW
Tuesday’s launch also coincides with the SSAC speaker tour, which will see young people personally affected by HIV in the UK to call global leaders to account.
For more info on the campaign and to download the ACT NOW research report, go to www.stopaidscampaign.org.ukEditors' notes
Facts about the global AIDS crisis:- 38 million people are living with HIV and AIDS today
- in some African countries 1 in 3 people are HIV positive
- only 8% of people living with HIV in developing countries have access to the HIV care and treatment they need, and that we in the UK take for granted
- in Africa, where 27 million people are living with HIV, only 1% have access to drugs which can stop mothers passing HIV on to their children
- the World Health Organisation has said that “rolling out effective HIV/AIDS treatment is the single activity that can most effectively energise and accelerate the uptake and impact of prevention.
The Stop AIDS Campaign brings together more than 80 of the UK’s leading development and HIV/AIDS organisations. www.stopaidscampaign.org.uk
The Stop AIDS Campaign is part of Make Poverty History. www.makepovertyhistory.org
More on Stephen Lewis:
The Secretary-General appointed Stephen Lewis as his Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa.
Mr. Lewis, who served as Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) from 1995-1999, is a Canadian citizen. Mr. Lewis has had extensive experience as a politician, diplomat and humanitarian. A passionate advocate of the rights and needs of children, he has, since leaving UNICEF in 1999, been raising his voice in support of various humanitarian causes around the world, particularly in Africa and on HIV/AIDS.
In June 1998, in addition to his United Nations duties, Mr. Lewis was appointed by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to an 'International Panel of Eminent Personalities to Investigate the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda and the Surrounding Events'.
From 1984 through 1988, he was Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations. In the 1960s and 1970s, Stephen Lewis was an elected representative to the Ontario Legislature, and served as leader of the New Democratic Party. Mr. Lewis was born in Ottawa on 11 November 1937. He is married to Michele Landsberg, and they have three children -- Ilana, Avi and Jenny.
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
