World AIDS Day 2009

HIV is still a major threat to public health throughout the world despite progress made over the last two decades in many countries.

On World AIDS Day 2009, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is launching a new advocacy report called “Inequalities fuelling HIV pandemic” focusing on Red Cross societies’ response in Latin America and the Caribbean. It insists on the necessity to support the most vulnerable groups to reduce HIV infection.

	The report The HIV pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean is fuelled by a range of social and economic inequalities exacerbated by high levels of stigma, discrimination of highly vulnerable groups, and persistent gender inequality and homophobia, says a new report issued in Lima, Peru by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). It is released on the occasion of World AIDS Day 2009 (1 December). Read the report Read the press release
	President statement "The spread of HIV infections can only be reduced through concerted actions at the community level with active involvement of the affected people", said Mr Tadateru Konoé, newly-elected president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), on the occasion of World Aids Day.   Read the statement
	Photo gallery There is a need to target the people most at risk of HIV to reach a lasting reduction in HIV infection rates as these groups are less likely than others to be reached by mass prevention campaigns. This photo gallery shows some of the HIV prevention programmes focusing on vulnerable groups implemented by the Red Cross in Colombia.   See the gallery
	Children orphaned by AIDS in Colombia: “The Red Cross helps us share the knowledge on HIV” Her name is Lina-Marcela. The 16-year-old smiling resident of the orphanage for children living with HIV run by the Fundamor Foundation in the outskirts of Cali cannot remember when she started living there, as she was just a baby when her parents died of AIDS.   Read the story
	Indigenous people in Colombia: “We want to preserve our culture but we need the Red Cross to help us protect ourselves against HIV” Working with minorities is a key component of the HIV policy implemented all over the world by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). A good example is to be found in southern Colombia, where Colombian Red Cross is providing support to the Guambiano native community, making the local population more aware of the threat of HIV. Read the story
	Marilyn, Colombian Red Cross volunteer: “I am so happy when I see them change their behaviour” Weekends are not all about relaxing and going out with friends for Marilyn. The 17-year-old Calita (the way inhabitants from Colombia’s third largest city Cali are commonly called) puts on her Colombian Red Cross uniform and becomes the regional HIV project coordinator, spending several hours working on HIV programmes with the most vulnerable in her city. Read the story
	“They love us at night, they hate us the rest of the time”: the story of Colombian transgender Pamela Her name is Pamela. She is one of the dozens of transgenders selling their bodies in what the locals call “Calle del Pecado” (The street of the sin”) near the historical centre of Cali, Colombia’s third largest city. Read the story
	Jamaica Red Cross: a pioneer in HIV/AIDS programmes in the Caribbean When the first case of HIV/AIDS in Jamaica was diagnosed in 1982, the Jamaica Red Cross (JRC) was invited by the Ministry of Health to take part in what would become the National AIDS Committee. As founding members of that committee, the JRC provided assistance to the increasing number of individuals diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and collaborated on the determination of effective strategies to address the pandemic. Read the story
	HIV prevention in Colombia: “I had never seen a condom before the Red Cross showed it to me” Popayan is a lovely city in southern Colombia that has managed to preserve its Spanish colonial style monuments. It is known as the “white city” because all of the houses in the city centre are painted white. However, despite its dynamism and cultural heritage, Popayan is located in an area affected for many years by the ongoing internal conflict. Read the story
	The Masambo Fund: helping the carers The Masambo Fund was created by the IFRC to provide access to life-saving drugs - including anti retroviral treatment – to Red Cross and Red Crescent staff and volunteers who are living with HIV. Because the Red Cross Red Crescent operates in every part of the world, the level of health coverage varies from one country to another so there is a need to support those staff and volunteers living with HIV who cannot afford access to treatment and care. Read the story

Other related links

• Watch the video on prevention with taxi drivers in El Salvador
• Read the new IFRC HIV prevention guidelines
• Standards for HIV peer education programmes
• More on the Red Cross Red Crescent Global Alliance on HIV
• Code of Good Practice for NGOs responding to HIV/AIDS
• UNAIDS