Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise

This is the theme of World AIDS Day 2005. "Keep the Promise" is an appeal to governments and policy makers to ensure that they meet the targets they have agreed to in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Some of the most important of these promises are contained in the UNGASS Declaration and the 3 by 5 Initiative:

The UNGASS Declaration of Commitment was signed by all 189 members of the UN in June 2001. The governments of these countries committed themselves to taking action on HIV and AIDS in the fields of leadership, prevention, care and support, treatment, reducing vulnerability, and human rights. The following targets were set for the end of 2005:

• Reduce HIV prevalence by 25% among men and women aged 15-24 in the most affected countries.

• Ensure that at least 90% of young people aged 15 to 24 have access to the information, education and services necessary to develop the life skills required to reduce their vulnerability to HIV infection.

• Reduce the proportion of infants infected with HIV by 20% by increasing access to services which prevent mother-to-child transmission.

• Increase annual spending on HIV and AIDS to $7-10 billion in low and middle-income countries and those countries experiencing or at risk of experiencing rapid expansion of HIV epidemics.

The 3 by 5 Initiative, which was launched by WHO and UNAIDS in December 2003, set the following target:

• Provide access to antiretroviral treatment to 3 million people living with HIV in developing and transitional countries by the end of 2005.

People have a right to hold governments and policy makers to account as they announce whether these promises have been kept, and whether enough progress is being made towards longer-term targets. One of the Millennium Development Goals - to which all members of the UN have committed - is to "have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS". Substantial progress must be made by the end of 2005 to ensure that our leaders will be able to keep this promise, too.