Let me try to explain the concept of Universal Access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services and the High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS in June to you in five minutes.

In 2006, our governments made history at the United Nations when they committed to scale up the HIV and AIDS response globally. In the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS they promised us to move towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services to all those who are in need. This includes sex workers, men who have sex with men (MSM), intravenous drug users (IDU) and people living with HIV (PLHIV). In fact, this commitment has its roots in the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, which they agreed to in 2001 (one year after signing the Millennium Development Goals).

However, despite the series of time-bound commitments to expand their efforts to address HIV by 2010, there are still a number of shortfalls in the response at the community, national, regional and global levels. For example, young people, especially girls, intravenous drug users, sex workers and men who have sex with men, account for a significant portion of HIV cases worldwide. Although, UNAIDS data published in July 2010 shows that we are leading the prevention revolution in sixteen of the most affected countries, we account for more than 30% of new HIV infections. In the Caribbean, while there are no readily accessible disaggregated data by age, there are fifty new infections every day. Additionally, new infections are outpacing treatment. For every fifty persons on anti-retroviral treatment there are seventy new infections.

Universal access is the culmination of all these commitments and serves as a mid-point to reaching the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to halt and reverse the spread of HIV by 2015. Universal access is a call for more equitable, affordable and comprehensive HIV services and is a platform for social justice.

2011 marks 30 years since the first case of AIDS was identified, 10 years later since the landmark UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, and five years since the 2006 High Level Meeting where the universal access commitment was made. The impetus for our action is that there are far too many persons who are still in need of services. In addition, many of our governments have allowed themselves to become complacent after recording some success. As such we should use the High Level Meeting in June 2011 as an opportunity to build unprecedented progress in addressing this global health and development crisis and galvanize our countries to a transformative agenda that overcomes remaining barriers to effective HIV services and build inclusive country-owned sustainable responses.

I hope I did it!

Source: UNAIDS Report (2011) Universal Access to HIV Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support: From Countries to Regions to the High Level Meeting on AIDS and Beyond