Bangladesh seeks global support to end AIDS by 2030

Bangladesh has sought global support to address HIV-related care and support, saying putting an end to AIDS by 2030, an SDG target, is a “collective global responsibility”.

“The development partners need to continue to work with Bangladesh to address the vulnerability to HIV infection,” Health Secretary Syed Monjurul Islam said while speaking at a high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS at the UN headquarters in New York.

The health ministry said the three-day meeting, which adopted a new political resolution, ended on Friday.

It includes a set of time-bound targets to quicken the pace of progress in combating the worldwide scourge of HIV and AIDS over the next five years and end the epidemic as a public health threat by 2030.

The health secretary endorsed the declaration, but stressed the need to consider the “social, cultural, religious norms and values” and the “legal framework” of all member states while addressing HIV/AIDS issues.

He said adequate domestic resources, strong partnerships with development partners, and early targeted interventions helped Bangladesh keep HIV prevalence as low as less than 0.1 percent among ordinary people despite high incidence in neighbouring countries.

The government was committed to continue “effective HIV prevention care and support services needed for all key and vulnerable populations”, he said.

The government had allocated “substantial domestic resources”, he said, but added continued support of the development partners would be needed.

The secretary said Bangladesh would have “to scale up case detection through mixed models” for more effective services.

He said, among others, Bangladesh would also need “to ensure universal access to anti-retroviral therapy; integrate prevention services with existing infrastructures to address co-infections, and ensure special needs of antenatal mothers, adolescent girls and young people, migrants, and other vulnerable populations”.

The high-level meeting brought together heads of state and government, ministers, people living with HIV, representatives of civil society and international organizations, the private sector, and scientists and researchers to build on the commitments made in the political declaration.

Participants specifically focused on the importance of the ‘fast-track’ approach to HIV during the next five years in order to speed up global efforts.

The Fast-Track approach intends to achieve such targets as fewer than 500,000 people newly infected with HIV; fewer than 500,000 people dying from AIDS-related illnesses; and eliminating HIV-related discrimination.