Washington, D.C. — Africa is making progress in the fight against HIV, according to a report just released by the World Bank.
The report, entitled “The Africa Multi-Country AIDS Program 2000-2006: Results of the World Bank’s Response to a Development Crisis,” claims that much success has been achieved by the U.S. $1.286 billion invested over six years in the realms of prevention, treatment, education and care.
For Phil Hay, the Bank’s HIV spokesperson, HIV is not purely a health issue: “If you go at this purely as a health problem it’s clear we’re not going to have very much success,” he said.
Societal factors play a major role in the spreading of HIV/Aids. According to Hay, the complex social, not simply biological, nature of the disease requires a wide range of projects and programs in response.
Women, for example, are affected disproportionately by HIV/Aids. “More than 50 percent, as many as 60 percent of people living with Aids - infected by HIV - are women,” Hay said.
A May 2007 report by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) found that severe gender inequality restricts women’s sexual decision-making capabilities and access to treatment and care. Also, persistent HIV-related stigma and discrimination discouraged women from getting tested and learning their HIV status, the PHR report said.
“A really critical component of women avoiding HIV infection is to empower them in their own lives, so they have options,” Hay said, adding that education, information, financial independence and employment are powerful means of working toward this empowerment.
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“We know that if you educate the girls and women to a minimum of a fifth-grade education… they’re much more likely to… be able to tell their daughters how to stay away from HIV infection,” Hay said.
Although the World Bank’s Multi-Country AIDS Program (MAP) has distributed over one billion condoms, ensuring that they are used is a different matter. Many women do not have the power to demand that their male partners use condoms.
The World Bank report does indicate, however, increased condom use between 2003 and 2005. Benin and Cameroon saw large increases, between 25 and 30 percent, of men and women reporting condom use in their last sexual encounter. Ghana, Kenya and Malawi also saw increases.
The Multi-Country Aids Program has also helped establish 1,512 new Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) sites in 17 countries.
Hay said he sees a long-term role for the World Bank in HIV/Aids work, and that while the report looks promising, there is still a tremendous amount of work to do.
“We have been involved in the fight against HIV for many years now, and we’ve built up I think a fairy strong, formidable repertoire of what works, what doesn’t, and why,” Hay said. “I think we all acknowledge we’re going to be in this for the long haul.”
Read the reports:
Epidemic of Inequality: Women's Rights and HIV/AIDS in Botswana and Swaziland
