back to home

See also the following sections of this website:

• Access to life-saving medicines (including AIDS medicines)
• AIDS/HIV discrimination, including in the workplace
• Health issues (including workplace health & safety)

Websites:

UNAIDS: Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS website) 

• Accelerating Access to HIV Care, Support and Treatment (UNAIDS)

Other materials:

2003:

An Appeal to Action on HIV/AIDS - In the context of HIV/AIDS as a major threat to global development, the Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, the Head of UNAIDS, and the Director General of the ILO sent a joint letter to the CEOs of companies participating in the Global Compact...The Global Compact, the ILO and UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) will join forces in 2003 to mobilize businesses, encourage increased action to fight HIV/AIDS in the workplace, and combat stigmatisation of people in the workforce living with the disease. ..The letter encourages businesses worldwide to adopt and fully implement the ILO Code of practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work. (U.N. Global Compact, 14 Feb. 2003)

2002:

HIV/AIDS: International Coalition On Anti-Retrovirals Launched - The World Health Organization, the Joint U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and dozens of other institutions today launched the International HIV Treatment Access Coalition to expand access to anti-retroviral drugs in poor and middle-income countries. (UN Wire, 12 Dec. 2002)

GLOBAL FUND: UNAIDS, WHO Revise Figures, Say AIDS Fight Underfunded -...UNAIDS and WHO said substantial boosts in expenditures from all quarters -- governments, bilateral and multilateral agencies, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector -- are urgently needed to keep pace with the epidemic's rapid expansion (UN Wire, 11 Oct. 2002)

• New figures show AIDS fight under-resourced: Existing funds insufficient to keep pace (UNAIDS and World Health Organization, 10 Oct. 2002)

• {···español} Nuevos datos indican que la lucha contra el SIDA recibe insuficientes recursos: Los fondos disponibles no son suficientes para mantener el ritmo (ONUSIDA y la Organización Mundial de la Salud, 10 octubre 2002)

• {···français} De nouveaux chiffres révèlent l'insuffisance des ressources disponsibles pour la lutte contre le SIDA: Les fonds existants ne suffiront pas à maintenir le rythme (ONUSIDA et l'Organisation mondiale de la Santé, 10 octobre 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Commonwealth Forum Urges Businesses To Respond To Crisis (UN Wire, 25 Sep. 2002)

• Firms 'must wake up to Aids' - Business bosses gathered at the Commonwealth business forum in London have been urged to take a leadership role in tackling Africa's Aids/HIV crisis...Dr Cleves [Dr Julia Cleves, a senior policy advisor at UNAIDS] praised the work of a select few big multinational firms such as Anglo American, Standard Chartered Bank and Ford for being "golden lights who are no longer afraid of dealing with the problem". (BBC News, 24 Sep. 2002)

UN to focus on corporate help to fight Aids - The United Nations has abandoned its policy of relying on governments to tackle the HIV/Aids crisis in the developing world, saying it would now help fund corporate initiatives to provide anti-retroviral drugs to sufferers...Richard Holbrooke, president of the Global Business Coalition on Aids, a grouping of 75 international companies, and former US ambassador to the UN, said the policy change was "an important step in the right direction". He said: "If Anglo American and De Beers take leadership, it will pressure other companies to take similar steps. It will finally get corporations to take up their role in the process [to fight HIV/Aids]. Up to now, business has been doing less than 10 per cent of what they should have done." (James Lamont, Financial Times, 29 Aug. 2002)

Rio + 10 Series: UNAIDS' Accelerating Access Initiative May Decelerate Access: ACT UP Paris criticizes Accelerating Access, a joint United Nations/pharmaceutical industry initiative, for limiting price reduction on AIDS medicine in developing nations. -...Accelerating Access Initiative...consists of five pharmaceutical companies: Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Hoffman-LaRoche, and Merck. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 19 July 2002) 

• Accelerating Access to HIV Care, Support and Treatment (UNAIDS)

Chambers team with UN to combat AIDS - World Chambers Federation (WCF) has joined forces with UNAIDS as an official partner of the 2002-2003 World AIDS campaign. Using WCF's global network of chambers of commerce to share experience and spread information, UNAIDS says it hopes to take the battle against the epidemic to the work place and highlight the fact that AIDS is an economic problem as well as a health problem. (World Chambers Federation, 17 June 2002)

2001:

HIV/AIDS: UNAIDS Official Sees Global Progress, Calls For U.S. Change [interview of Pedro Chequer, UNAIDS Intercountry Program Adviser for the Southern Cone, a founder of Brazil's widely praised AIDS Program] - ...Merck did a very interesting job … dividing the world into three areas according to UNDP classification of poverty. (UN Wire, 13 Nov. 2001)

International Labour Organization formally joins UNAIDS: The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) today announced that the International Labour Organization (ILO) has formalized its commitment to fighting the global HIV/AIDS epidemic by becoming a Cosponsor of UNAIDS..."The ILO brings to UNAIDS its understanding and expertise in the world of work. We know the workplace is a key location for HIV/AIDS prevention and care programmes," said Dr Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS...ILO Director-General Juan Somavia said, "HIV/AIDS affects everyone today but has an especially profound impact on workers and their families, enterprises and employers, and national economies. With the accession of the ILO to UNAIDS, we now add the historic force of tripartism - governments, workers and employers - to the international efforts being undertaken to meet the challenge of HIV/AIDS and its impact on the world of work." (UN Wire, 25 Oct. 2001)

• {···español: La Organización Internacional del Trabajo se une oficialmente al ONUSIDA}

• {···français: L'Organisation internationale du Travail se joint officiellement a l'ONUSIDA} 

New report sounds alarm over AIDS in Asia: Cautions AIDS Will Spread Unless Rapid Action Rapidly Stepped Up; Warns Some Countries on Brink of Potentially Explosive Epidemics (UNAIDS, 4 Oct. 2001)

• {···español} Un nuevo informe hace sonar la alarma sobre el SIDA en Asia
• {···français} Le SIDA en Asie: Un nouveau rapport sonne l'alarme

Business and Labour Responds to HIV/AIDS in Asia: The International Labor Organisation (ILO) has identified HIV/AIDS as a major threat to enterprise and the workplace. The business community must play a role in implementing sound workplace policies, raising public awareness on HIVAIDS, mobilizing political commitment, and contributing resources to the national response. In this context, a conference on business and labour responses to HIV/AIDS is being held on 18-19 September 2001 in Bangkok. The conference is being organized by the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in collaboration with ESCAP, ILO, UNDCP and UNAIDS, and the Asian Business Coalition on AIDS. (United Nations Information Services, 17 Sep. 2001)

Coca-Cola, UNAIDS Form Partnership For Africa (UN Wire, 20 June 2001)

Coke joins AIDS fight in Africa: Marketing giant will help U.N. deliver information, treatment (Don Melvin, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 20 June 2001)

HIV/AIDS: UNAIDS Head Looks More To Prevention Than Drugs (UN Wire, 29 May 2001)

Secretary-general [UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan] advances plans for International AIDS and Health Fund (UNAIDS and World Health Organization joint press release, 17 May 2001)

UNAIDS: HIV Needs to be at the Center of Development Policy (UNAIDS, 16 May 2001)

• {···français: ONUSIDA: Placer le VIH au centre de la politique de développement}

UNAIDS welcomes landmark US contribution to international fund (UNAIDS, 11 May 2001)

World AIDS experts call for urgent action, say leaders must demonstrate financial and political commitment UNAIDS, 10 May 2001)