UNAIDS: The First 10 Years

Chapter 5Crucially, condom supplies could not be guaranteed everywhere. A number of African countrieshad run out of stocks of male condoms and progress was slow on making female condomswidely available. Research published in July 2001 found the overall provision of condoms wasjust 4.6 per man, per year ‘which seems low’. A key report on condom availability asserted that:’Another 1.9 billion condoms need to be provided a year for all countries to equal the level ofprovision of the six highest providing countries’ 29 . The authors of the report estimated that itwould cost US$ 47.5 million to close the 1.9 billion condom gap.127The authors added: ‘Finding ways to promote condom use and other prevention among hightransmitting people is particularly important. Experience in Thailand shows such an approachcan greatly reduce sexually transmitted infections and HIV’ 30 .The prevention needs of marginalized groups were among the issues discussed at the 10 thmeeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) in Rio de Janeiro in December2000, where concern was expressed about the specific need in that region for scaled-upprogrammes targeting men who have sex with men. Although 40% of HIV infection was attributedto sex between men in Latin America, less than 20% of public health expenditure on AIDSprevention, not including expenses on blood banks, went to work with this group in 2001.Notable exceptions included Mexico and Peru, which contributed more than 30% of theirprevention expenditure towards men who have sex with men. In his report, Piot also spoke ofthe unfinished prevention agenda; the need to direct resources rapidly to local responses tomake young people a priority, to ensure a guaranteed condom supply everywhere, to expandprevention of mother-to-child transmission services and programmes for injecting drug users.The PCB endorsed the Strategic Framework for Global Leadership on HIV/AIDS, which highlightsuniversally applicable commitments for an expanded AIDS response. The PCB encouragedMember States to translate these commitments into action rapidly at country level, andto make use of the framework to elaborate common goals and formulate specific commitmentsat the highest levels.By December 2000, the General Assembly of the United Nations had passed a resolutionconfirming their decision to hold the Special Session on AIDS, and the two facilitators,Ambassador Penny Wensley from Australia and Ambassador Ibra Deguene Ka from Senegal,had been appointed by the president of the General Assembly.Sea change in 2001UNGASS would be a remarkable event for the AIDS community but, already, political commitmentwas gaining strength in many regions and countries. Increasing numbers of NationalAIDS Councils had been created, especially in Africa, and there was a new level of donorsupport for tackling AIDS and other communicable diseases.29Shelton J D, Johnston B (2001). ‘Condom gap in Africa: evidence from donor agencies and key informants’.British Medical Journal, 323, 21 July.30Ibid.