Health Action AIDS

About the Health Action AIDS Campaign

The HIV/AIDS pandemic is arguably the greatest health crisis of our time. The Health Action AIDS Campaign at Physicians for Human Rights mobilizes health professionals to support a comprehensive AIDS strategy and advocates for unprecedented funds to combat the disease.

Why Health Professionals Have an Important Role to Play in the Fight Against Global HIV/AIDS

Health professionals in AIDS-burdened countries are treating HIV/AIDS without the simple tools they need to do their jobs: tools like clean gloves and needles, affordable drugs, training, food, clean water, condoms, decent salaries, and health care for themselves and their communities.

US health professionals are uniquely qualified to advocate for these life-saving tools, and for the fulfillment of fundamental human rights. An informed, motivated constituency of health professionals can change the course of this pandemic. The government officials determining global AIDS policies often make their decisions without the best medical information or expertise.  By educating their communities and policy-makers about what works and what it will take to save lives, health professionals can help ensure an effective and sustained US response to the AIDS crisis.

Why the Fight Against Global AIDS is a Human Rights Issue

The extent of human suffering already caused by the global AIDS pandemic defies understanding. Twenty-five million men, women and children have died and 38.6 million people are now infected with HIV. Each day, 11,233 new infections emerge and 7,671 people die from the disease. Worse, infectious disease epidemiologists concur that HIV/AIDS is still in its early and middle stages in most countries, and that without immediate large-scale action, the pandemic will spiral further out of control.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic represents much more than these catastrophic health statistics. Government and societal economic deprivation, denial of health care to the poor, and failure to assure the right to privacy are at once causes and effects of the pandemic. Social, economic, educational and political inequality for women and girls--who are often unable to determine their sexual and economic activities--is also at the root of the pandemic. Widespread discrimination against children, men who have sex with men, sex workers and their clients, injection drug users, persons confined to institutions and prisons, refugees, and internally displaced persons also fuels the disease.

As the disease spreads in Africa, Asia and parts of Europe, it destabilizes entire regions, thwarting political, social and economic development. HIV/AIDS is a product of, and a factor exacerbating, pervasive violations of human rights. International assistance and cooperation are imperatives of human rights, as set out in international human rights law.

Getting Involved with Health Action AIDS

Like other public health and human rights crises, the HIV/AIDS pandemic cannot be reversed by medical science alone. The pandemic will not be controlled without political will and moral courage. Whether you're a health professional or not, your help is needed to fight for the right to health in all its dimensions, including public health policies that both promote prevention of HIV/AIDS and assure treatment to those already infected. By signing up to stay informed and involved with the Health Action AIDS Campaign, you will:

• Receive periodic action alerts giving you simple ways to contact key decision-makers about what policies are needed to fight the pandemic
• Receive email newsletters about the evolution of the pandemic and how health professionals are advocating against it
• Periodically, receive specific opportunities to sign an important letter, attend an event, or author an Op-Ed based on your Congressional district or area of expertise.

You can also join PHR as a member; the larger our membership, the louder our voice and the greater our influence over the policies that can save lives.