Call for Immediate Action, People's Health Movement

ASIAN People's Charter on HIV/ AIDS (DRAFT)

Amplifying the voices of the people affected, infected, living with
and suffering from HIV/AIDS. The charter will be officially released
to the international community during the International AIDS
conference in Bangkok (11–16 July 2004). Click
www.phmovement.org/charter/pch-hiv.html

JOIN US !

Please send your feedback with comments, suggestions and critique to
hiv@... before 31st May 2004. This Charter, an initiative
of the People's Health Movement, is facilitated by many, including
ActionAid International
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About the Charter...

The charter is a consensus/campaign document that amplifies the
voices of the people affected, infected, living with and suffering
from HIV/AIDS. It calls for immediate action.

Objective: To amplify people's voices and provide a people's
perspective on HIV/ AIDS and related issues like access, rights and
trade issues.

Is it only for Asians? No, it is universal. However, in the context
of the International AIDS conference that will be held in Asia
(Bangkok, Thailand)in July 2004, naming it `Asian' carries a
strategic campaign and advocacy value.

Who is leading this? The process is initiated and facilitated by the
Peoples Health Movement (PHM) (www. phmovemnt.org) – a mass movement
with a presence in over 100 countries. Several grassroots groups,
mass movements, organisations of people living with HIV/AIDS, NGOs,
INGOs (like ActionAid International), media and others are ensuring
synergy.

How is it being developed? The Peoples Health Charter, the guiding
spirit of PHM and the largest consensus document on health, is the
model.(www.phmovement.org/pubs/index.html#Charter) . This Charter
also derives the analysis from the Mumbai Declaration
www.phmovement.org/md/index.html). Spread across the world, the
consultative process is dynamic and interactive. The key highlight is
consultations at the grassroots and with people infected, affected,
living with and suffering from HIV/AIDS. Starting from April 2004
onwards, the draft charter is being presented and discussed at
various meetings, conferences, people's summits, workshops, etc. – at
local, provincial, national, regional and international levels.

What we are doing at the international level:

Meetings and discussions held all over the world to coincide with
World Health Day (7 April) during the first week of April 2004 and
continuing through until 31 May 2004

XVIII World Conference on Health Promotion and Health Education in
Australia during the last week of April 2004, along with several
meetings in universities and other institutions

The Public Health Association of South Africa & International
Association of Health Policy Conference 2004 from 06 to 08 June in
Durban, South Africa

International Conference on Primary Health Care from 23–25 June in
Iran

World Health Assembly from 17–22 May 2004 in Geneva

Call for Action – Meetings to promote and advocate for women's sexual
and reproductive health and rights by WGNRR, Netherlands
EQUINET Southern African Conference on Equity in Health, Durban,
South Africa.

In addition to the above, the draft charter will be discussed,
debated and fine-tuned through a dynamic and inclusive Internet-based
discussion. Click www.phmovement.org/charter/pch-hiv.html

Responses will be collected till 31 May and the Charter will be ready
for circulation and endorsement in June first week. The official
launch of the Charter will take place at the International AIDS
conferences in July in Thailand. It will be submitted to the tions of
people living with HIV/AIDS, media, international community,
governments, NGOs, academicians, INGOs, donors, bilateral and
multilateral agencies, WHO, UNAIDS and other UN agencies.

Join the process! What can you do ?

One: ORGANISE discussions and consultations on the proposed charter
in your community, family, schools, colleges and universities during
conferences, workshops, e-groups, in organizations, clinics, Primary
Health Care centers, hospitals, etc. Please forward this to others.

Two: JOIN us either as an individual or representing your
organization/association/union.

Three: USE this draft charter as an issue for discussion during the
week of World Health Day (April 7) in April until May.

Four: SEND names of persons and organizations to which we can send
the final Charter for endorsement.

Five: MAIL your feedback with comments and suggestions to
hiv@... before 31 May 2004.

Six: PUBLICIZE the launch of the charter in July through the local
media in your province/ country and through meetings. Send us a list
of journalists and their contact details. Let us know whether you can
help to distribute the press release in your region.
_______________________________________________

Access to ARV treatment has increased the life expectancy and quality
of life of those who can afford it. The majority of AIDS patients
being impoverished are denied access to treatment in violation of the
principles of the international covenant on social, economic and
cultural rights. Children orphaned by HIV/AIDS and women being more
vulnerable, take a heavy toll.

Preamble

Health is a social, economic and political issue and above all a
fundamental human right. Inequality, poverty, exploitation, violence
and injustice are at the root of ill-health and the deaths of poor
and marginalized people. Health for All means that the powerful
interests have to be challenged, globalization has to be opposed, and
political and economic priorities have to be drastically changed.

HIV/AIDS is a public health issue that calls for medical, social and
political responses.

This Charter builds on the perspectives of people who are affected,
infected, suffering from and living with HIV/AIDS. It encourages
people

to develop their own solutions and hold accountable the local
authorities, national governments, international organisations and
corporations.

Vision

Equity, ecologically-sustainable development and peace are at the
heart of our vision of a better world – a world in which a healthy
life for

all is a reality; a world that respects, appreciates and celebrates
all life and diversity; a world that enables the flowering of
people's talents

and abilities to enrich each other; a world in which people's voices
guide the decisions that shape our lives. Resources are in abundance
to achieve this vision.

Introduction

HIV is recognized as a `global development emergency' destabilizing
societies and economies, thus threatening millions of lives,
especially

in some of the world's most populous nations. The AIDS pandemic is
one of the greatest humanitarian crises of all times. It has caused
death and misery, destroyed families and communities and ravaged
entire populations. HIV/AIDS is already wiping out a generation in
Africa. Two decades after it began its onslaught in Sub-Saharan
Africa, the disease has been spreading fast. It has gained a firm
foothold in other places like in parts of Asia, etc. Africa's
experience shows that HIV/AIDS, in a single stroke, can destroy
development gains of several decades as well as the social
composition of people.

A similar tragedy is unfolding in other parts of the world. Spreading
along migration routes related to globalization and to social and
economic distress due to war, global trade and economic policies,
HIV/AIDS is now associated with the resurgence of other communicable
diseases of poverty, such as tuberculosis. The Alma Ata Declaration
of 1978 promised Health for All by 2000. HIV/ AIDS was not a key
issue in 1978. While HIV/AIDS has contributed in negatively affecting
this goal, the total breakdown of the public health system and
primary health care during the 1980s and 1990s has amplified the
spread and impact.

Peoples Health Movement (PHM) considers HIV/AIDS as a public health
issue. However, PHM believes that the way to combat HIV/AIDS is not
through just a medical approach, but through better politics, care,
research, pro-people policies, rights and governance and effective
communication.

The HIV/AIDS crisis – a public health issue

Poverty, hunger, ill health and its contributing factors are
increasing. The process is amplified by neo-liberal economic
policies, lack of respect for health and human rights and the
breakdown of nation states because of conflicts, wars and disasters.
While endorsing concern about the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the need for
Primary Health Care-oriented and Health Systems-strengthening
approaches to other communicable and non-communicable diseases in an
integrated way is urgently required.

Principles of this charter

This charter calls for:

Action by People' People's s Health Movement and Civil Society:

CONTINUE campaigns for the rights of people in poor countries to
receive ARV treatment delivered through comprehensive PHC services

FACILITATE Public Interest Litigations to oppose changes in Patent
laws that are expected to escalate the ART prices

MAKE links between the spread of HIV/AIDS and the underlying societal
determinants such as poverty, war and displacement, and participate
in efforts to redress these injustices.

Action by Governments:

DEVELOP a comprehensive Primary Health Care-oriented and health
systems'-strengthening approach to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic
through interventions, including:

Peer education inclusive of sexual and reproductive health and rights
information

Oppose stigma and promote respect and care for people living with
HIV/AIDS

Increased access to basic services by people living with HIV/AIDS

Immediate availability of ARV drugs

Support those affected by the epidemic through empowerment

Allocate more resources for primary health care in general and
communicable diseases in particular

Reduce the budget for factors like military expenditure that amplify
public health and HIV/AIDS crisis

Place people above profits and politics and thus take control of
policies that affect people's lives in general and people infected,
affected, suffering (from) and living with HIV/AIDS

Develop a transparent, scientific and human way to conduct clinical
trails through an informed consent approach.

Action by WHO:

EVOLVE a comprehensive approach emphasizing Primary Health Care and
health systems-strengthening approaches including preventive
information and services and ARV treatment

WORK towards reduction of high drug costs

ENHANCE involvement of people, affected communities and civil society
in its planning and initiatives through proactive dialogue

NEED for:

a paradigm shift. WHO's 3x5 initiative [that promises 3 million
persons with AIDS receiving Anti-retroviral (ARV) Treatment by 2005]
requires contextual solutions. The 3x5 initiative at present focuses
on treatment alone, ignoring the complexity of the epidemicˇ low cost
drugs. High drug costs can lead to long-term dependency on donors

adequate involvement of persons living with and affected by HIV/AIDS
and civil society in planning, implementation and evaluation

adequate budgetary and related commitments on improving health
systems, particularly Primary Health Care to provide drugs and
general health services and information in the long term

adequate attention to life skill education, women's health
empowerment and utilization of traditional systems of medicine.

Action by UNAIDS:

HIGHLIGHT the cost of inaction in `so-called low prevalence countries'

DEVELOP a specific global programme strategy to address the
prevention and care needs of `so-called low prevalence countries'

ADDRESS its own shortcomings in using the in-country UN Theme groups
effectively. Several in-country UN Theme groups have yet to sign a
framework for collaboration with the national governments

FACILITATE International and National NGOs evaluating and monitoring
the efficacy of country-level supports of the UN Theme groups

FACILITATE a regional and national score card of UN Theme groups

CHAMPION the cause of non-priority countries of the 3x5 initiative.
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Please send your feedback with comments, suggestions and critique to
hiv@... before 31st May 2004.

Click on www.phmovement.org/charter/pch-hiv.html to download this
document.