to-mouth not to go to work? We must prepare an African response and time is running
out.
The lack of investment in Africa’s social infrastructure, including in its health systems,
mounting debt and massive corporate tax dodging has left the continent ill-prepared to
face this coming emergency. Without publicly provided healthcare, people are left
exposed to diseases. User fees for accessing health services deny ordinary people their
right to health. This is the time to abolish them. Rich countries are rightly pumping
billions of dollars into their own economies and social security systems to keep people
and businesses afloat, but will there be massive coordinated international financial
support for the developing countries to fight Covid-19? We are in this together or no one
is safe. Nothing but a global response will defeat this aggressive virus.
lam also extremely concerned for what Covid-19 might mean for people living with HIV.
Two out of three people living with HIV globally reside in sub-Saharan Africa. Millions are
still unaware of their status and not on treatment.
We know that older people and people with pre-existing heart and lung conditions,
including those living with HIV, are at higher risk. It is therefore essential that people
living with HIV follow the same guidance for avoiding the virus as the general population.
In addition, it has never been more important to test people for HIV and get them on
antiretroviral.
For people living with HIV who are already on treatment, governments must move to the
recommended guidelines of the World Health Organisation for multimonth dispensing of
medication. This will help alleviate the burden on health facilities should Covid-19 arrive
and allow people to maintain their treatment regimens uninterrupted without having to
risk increased exposure to Covid-19 to retrieve their medicines. We must also make sure
that vulnerable groups of people living with or affected by HIV are not forgotten in the
rush to deal with the coronavirus crisis.
During this serious and difficult situation, UNAIDS is working closely with networks of
people living with HIV throughout the world to ensure that their concerns are heard and
that they can bring solutions to the table. We will continue to do so throughout this
crisis.
The response to Covid-19 in Africa and throughout the world must be grounded in
human rights. There have already been incidents all over the world where individuals or
communities are being blamed for the virus. This must stop. It’s wrong and counter-
productive for the wider public good. Let us learn the lessons of the AIDS response and
know that stigma and discrimination will hold us back in getting to grips with this
pandemic.
In responding to the HIV epidemic, community-led services have been core to our most
important advances in preventing new infections and getting people on treatment. In the
response to Covid-19, communities will no doubt step into the breach and public health
authorities must engage with them now and build trust for the upcoming battle. We will
not win without communities. It is communities that will design and implement their
own specific prevention measures in markets, in buses, at funerals. As we have seen in
the AIDS response, it will most often be women who will lead the charge in terms of
caring for the sick and making sure that their children and communities are as safe as
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