Why India Should Join UNITAID?

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Why India Should Join UNITAID?

By Stanzin Dawa

15 September, 2007

Countercurrents.org

India has been reeling under the twin epidemic of Tuberculosis and

HIV/AIDS. Due to various reasons access to treatment and care for TB

and HIV pose very serious challenges, precisely for children, women

and men who are more vulnerable to HIV due to social and personal

reasons. As more and more people will get sick and more and more

people will know they have HIV. That's why it's so important that we

have a long term sustainable funding mechanisms which will allow us

to continue treating people.

To address this situation last year in September, the United National General

Assembly ratified the setting up of UNITAID housed with WHO as a single largest

facilitator of treatment access through procurement of Drugs for TB and HIV.

UNITAID is being established as an innovative funding mechanism to accelerate

access to high-quality drugs including second line and diagnostics for HIV/AIDS,

malaria and tuberculosis in countries with a high burden of disease. According

to the new estimates Indian is the third largest country in the world in terms

of people living with HIV/AIDS, putting it behind South Africa and Nigeria.

It is mostly financed through a small tax on airline tickets and

other innovative sources of funding that the UNITAID donor

governments have established. In the spirit of global solidarity,

these contributions of airline passengers go specifically to the

lifesaving purchase of drugs urgently needed by the millions of

people struggling against drug resistant HIV, TB or malaria.

Second Line Drugs are the only hope for sustaining life - yet these drugs are

much more expensive. Indian government at present provides first line treatment

for HIV free of cost, but not the second-line. Under such situation UNITAID

gives a ray of hope for people living with HIV who are in need of second line

treatment.

With the increasing access to these medicines through UNITAID, more and more of

those who are surviving on the ground are saying " You Fly, I Live - Thanks! "

UNITAID is a lean mechanism which complements the existing global

national architecture for health, inside and outside the UN system.

With annual resources approaching $300 million for 2007, UNITAID is

already helping to provide treatment to people, including many

children, in some 80 countries, of which 85% are low-income. Several

countries who are members of the UN are signatories and members of

UNITAID while India at present is not a signatory to UNITAID.

On 20 th of September, the UN family will be celebrating the first

anniversary of UNITAID and on this auspicious occasion civil

societies and people living with HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria appealing

the Government of India to fast track the process and announce its

commitment to be part of this important global life saving initiative

by signing UNITAID.

Why India should sign UNITAID? Because:

India being one of the principal countries along with other 189

member States that initially endorsed to adopt Declaration of

Commitment on HIV/AIDS in June 2001 at United Nations General

Assembly Special Session (UNGASS).

As a signatory nation, India has also pledged: " …in particular to ensure their

access to treatment… "

The new AIDS treatment access numbers released by the World Health

Organization (WHO) on 17 th April 2007 are a grave warning about the

state of AIDS treatment scale up. In 2006, treatment access grew by

700,000 to an estimated total of 2,015,000 people, leaving many

millions more in urgent need of antiretroviral therapy.

At this rate of expansion the world will fall five million people short of the

internationally declared and reaffirmed Universal Access target of 9.8 million

on treatment by 2010. Each day 8200 people living with HIV/AIDS die, and 13,000

become HIV positive.

By 2010, 100 million people will be infected with HIV worldwide--45 million new

infections in only 5 years. India is the third largest country in terms of

people living with HIV.

By joining UNITAID India has an opportunity to live up to the promises made at

UNGASS, as universal access is still a big challenge in India.

Under the situation sustainable financing mechanisms in India are not

in place to meet the full costs of comprehensive services including

HIV prevention, universal access to treatment and full coverage of

support for children living or affected by HIV, TB and malaria.

Though government funding for HIV/AIDS has increased considerably in

this year's budget, it is still not enough. UNITAID is a long term

sustainable funding mechanisms which will allow us to treating people

irrespective of their paying capacity.

In order to have sustainable financing mechanism the government of India has an

obligation to sign UNITAID.

ICAO ( International Civil Aviation Organization) forecasts predict

worldwide growth in air traffic at 5% a year or doubling in the

volume of traffic once in 14 years. The Asia Pacific region is set

for higher than average growth. According to an AUTC study, it might

account for more than 50% of the world air traffic by the year 2010.

There are 449 airports/airstrips in India. Considering the forecasts

made by AAI taking a reasonably pragmatic view, the projected traffic

scenario in 2007-08 will be 298.24 lakhs domestic passengers and

209.64 lakhs international passengers.

By the year 2016-20017 projected air traffic will be 523.16 lakhs domestic

passengers and 329.88 international passengers. This is a massive number to

enhance and ensure sustainability of UNITAID funding. India can demonstrate its

leadership and global solidarity by sharing the benefit of its booming civil

aviation industry with those who are living with fear of death due to

lack/absence of second line treatment.

The population in India as at 0:00 hours on 1st March 2001 stood at

1,027,015,247 persons. With this, India became only the second

country in the world after China to cross the one billion mark.

(India is the 2nd most populated country in the world). It has got a

moral responsibility to demonstrate global responsibility to ensure

health for all. UNITAID is an opportunity for the Government of India

to gain the confidence of other countries, communities and

individuals in ensuring access to treatment.

Even more than 50 years after independence from almost two centuries

of British rule, large scale poverty remains the most shameful blot

on the face of India. India still has the world's largest number of

poor people in a single country.

Of its nearly 1 billion inhabitants, an estimated 260 million are below the

poverty line, 75 per cent of them in the rural areas. More than 40 per cent of

the population is illiterate, with women, tribal and scheduled castes

particularly affected. Under such situation access to second line treatment is a

distant dream as the second line treatment is very expensive.

Free provision and availability of lifesaving second line treatment for AIDS

must be ensured at the earliest. The preamble of the Indian

constitution says India is a socialist country, keeping this into

consideration India must sign UNITAID so that everyone one can access

to second line treatment by choice not by chance.

India , which is now the fourth largest economy in terms of

purchasing power parity, will overtake Japan and become third major

economic power within 10 years. Indian Economy experienced a GDP

growth of 9.0 percent during 2005-06 to 9.4 percent during 2006-07.

By 2025 the India's economy is projected to be about 60 per cent the

size of the US economy. In order to sustain the galloping economy

India must protect its human resources, which is the backbone of any

economy. This time India can show its gesture and concern for public

health and economic growth by signing UNITAID without any delay.

The civil societies and people living with HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria

are calling the Government of India to change the course of history

by signing UNITAID to ensure access to treatment more precisely

access to second line treatment to bolster prevention efforts and

improve overall health systems throughout the country.

Comprehensive Treatment and care of people living with HIV/AIDS and effective

prevention cannot wait. People living with HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria are

demanding for real Access for All.

Stanzin Dawa

e-mail:stanzindawa@...

http://www.countercurrents.org/dawa150907.htm