New U.N. Declaration on Ending AIDS Omits ‘Abstinence,’ ‘Fidelity’
A view of the U.N. General Assembly Hall during the high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS, on Wednesday, June 8, 2016 (UN Photo/Rick Bajornas)
(CNSNews.com) – The U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday adopted “by consensus” a political statement on ending the AIDS epidemic, but several delegations lodged reservations to parts of the declaration, including the absence of references to sexual abstinence and faithfulness.
A previous such document, adopted five years ago, included a key reference to “… the importance of reducing risk-taking behavior and encouraging responsible sexual behavior, including abstinence, fidelity and correct and consistent use of condoms.”
But in the one endorsed on Wednesday, the same sentence appeared, with the words abstinence and fidelity removed: “… the importance of reducing risk-taking behavior and encouraging responsible sexual behavior, including correct and consistent use of condoms.”
Indonesia’s representative said that stopping HIV infections requires measures to encourage risk-avoidance behavior, and voiced disappointment that the 2011 language had not made it into the 2016 declaration.
Pointing to evidence that sexual contact is the most common route of transmission, he said that “ending HIV would only be possible if we could avoid exposing ourselves to the mode of transmissions.”
“Indonesia continues to view that risk-avoiding measures including abstinence [and] fidelity is the most effective measures to prevent the spread or to end the HIV.”
Such an approach was also “in line with our cultural, religious and moral values,” he added.
Egypt’s delegate expressed concern that the declaration “has some controversial points, which do not enjoy the consensus of all states, with respect to the social, cultural and religious diversity and the different approaches regarding values.”
The representative of the Holy See said it was vital to differentiate between policies that stigmatize and discriminate, and policies put in place to discourage risky behavior and “to encourage responsible and healthy relationships, especially among youth.”
He called attention to “the undeniable fact that the only safe and completely reliable method of preventing the sexual transmission of HIV is abstinence before marriage,” and faithfulness within marriage.
In earlier years, Uganda won praise from the U.S. for its success in tackling HIV-AIDS, through prioritizing abstinence and faithfulness in relationships as well as condom use – the so-called “ABC” (Abstinence, Be faithful, Condoms) approach.
The U.N. tracked a significant fall in the national HIV prevalence in the East African nation, from 18.5 percent in 1992 to five percent in 2000. The level later rose somewhat, and was measured at 7.4 percent in 2013.
When President George W. Bush launched the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in 2003, one-third of PEPFAR’s prevention funds were required to focus on abstinence-based, or “ABC” programs. The requirement was removed in 2008.
Some non-governmental organizations reject the argument that abstinence and faithfulness should be promoted as preventive measures. They argue among other things that women in some cultures do not have the choice of abstaining from sex, and that it is often their husbands or partners who are being unfaithful.
According to the U.N. agency UNAIDS, 36.7 million people are currently living with HIV/AIDS around the world.
AIDS-related deaths have dropped by 45 percent since a peak in 2005. In 2015, 1.1 million people died from AIDS-related causes around the world, down from two million in 2005.
The document endorsed on Wednesday calls on countries to reduce the number of new HIV infections to below 500,000 a year – down from 2.1 million in 2015.
It also calls for the number of AIDS-related deaths to be reduced to under 500,000 a year – down from last year’s figure of 1.1 million.
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/new-un-declaration-ending-aids-omits-abstinence-fidelity
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