World AIDS Day 2009

Every year, World AIDS Day provides an important reminder about the fact that approximately 33 million people around the world live with HIV and that around 6.7 million of them do not have access to treatment.

World AIDS Day is also a time to reflect upon the many other struggles faced by those with HIV—struggles that are not easily documented or measured. These include discrimination and other human rights violations and often even travel restrictions.

In spite of these grim facts, World AIDS Day should also be an opportunity for hope. More people are receiving treatment: in its 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic (published every 2 years), UNAIDS reports a 45% improvement in access to treatment since 2006. One reason is that the cost of treatment has gone down significantly; according to the One Campaign, a year's worth of treatment for a person with HIV/AIDS costs $140, as opposed to costing nearly $10,000 only 10 years ago.

The Link Between Climate Change and AIDS

This month on Youthink! we are talking about climate change, and so, on the occasion of World AIDS Day, it's interesting to examine the connection between the two issues.

At first, it sounds unlikely. How could the two issues possibly be related? One is about the Earth's temperatures rising and changes in weather patterns, while the other is about a virus that causes an incurable disease. According to the latest State of the World Population Report from UNFPA, though, there are several links between the two:

Climate change may exacerbate the spread of infectious diseases like tuberculosis and malaria, which those with HIV are often more vulnerable to because the virus weakens a person's immune system

Impacts of climate change including water shortages, food insecurity and warmer conditions may cause malnutrition, again increasing people's vulnerability to disease

Climate change may reduce people's incomes from farming and fishing, which could drive some women into sex work and increase HIV infection rates

The report also argues that increasing people's resilience to HIV/AIDS will help strengthen their resilience to the threat of climate change. This is especially true for women. According to UNAIDS:

… empowering women and girls, especially through investments in health and education, helps boost economic development and reduce poverty, thus having a beneficial impact on coping with climate change. Girls with more education are more likely to protect themselves against HIV and to have smaller and healthier families as adults. In general, access to reproductive health services such as family planning means lower fertility rates and this has a clear bearing on lessening the potential impact of environmental crises and making sustainable development more likely.