Academy for Educational Development

Photo: Patient receiving HIV counseling at clinic supported by AED's COMCAVI project. Note: this photograph does not indicate the HIV status of the individuals depicted above. 

Next year marks a major milestone in the Millennium Development Goals concerning HIV and AIDS. It is the year the world was to achieve universal access to essential care for those living with the virus.

Conversations about how close we are to achieving that goal will start in earnest in the coming months. The organizers of World AIDS Day chose the theme “Universal Access and Human Rights,” to highlight the importance of providing care to marginalized people during those discussions.

“Access to prevention methods and treatment is more than a luxury,” said Frank Beadle de Palomo, senior vice president and director of Global HIV/AIDS Programs and the AED Center on AIDS & Community Health. “It is a fundamental human right, and should be considered in that light as we develop programs to fight the pandemic.”

Opening Pathways to Care and Treatment.

AED works in the United States and around the world to open pathways to proper care and treatment for people who are most at-risk for being infected with HIV.

For example:

• In Botswana, the Expansion of HIV Prevention Counseling, Psychosocial Support, and Outreach Service project connects pregnant mothers who are HIV-positive with other women like themselves to provide peer counseling, and engages community members to further support those mothers;
  
• In Nigeria, the SMARTWork project partners with unions to offer HIV-prevention and referral services in the workplace;
  
• And in South Africa, AED works with the national government and non-governmental organizations to increase access to confidential HIV-screening and counseling, particularly for hard-to-reach populations and substance abusers in seven provinces.

“Throughout all of our work, we are trying to equalize access for everyone,” said Beadle de Palomo. “So that no matter where you live or what your income level may be, you can still attain proper testing, care, and treatment.”

Support for the projects in Botswana and South Africa comes from the United States Centers for Disease Control, and the United States Agency for International Development funds the Nigerian project.