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5 April, 2010
The Global Unions AIDS Programme (GUAP) and the African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) launched a month of action between 21 March and 28 April. The effort leads up to a meeting of the G8 Development Ministers in Halifax, Canada, on 26-28 April, and the G8 and G20 Summits in June.
The action calls for universal access to HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment, care, and support.
The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) is central in initiating the action to convince the upcoming G8/G20 Summits, together with its affiliate unions, for universal access. The month of action also targets Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who will preside over both summits. The G8 will take place near Huntsville, Ontario, 25-25 June, and the G20 will be in Toronto, 26-27 June.
Alan Leather, Chair of the GUAP, has called on trade unions around the world to come together and deliver a united message calling for universal access to core treatment for HIV/AIDS.
Sub-Saharan Africa continues to bear the brunt of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, accounting for 67% of all people living with HIV globally and 72% of deaths due to AIDS. While African countries remain the focus of the international HIV/AIDS agenda, burgeoning epidemics in the Caribbean, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia need also to be addressed. Access to treatment, especially for working people, is not 100% anywhere.
GUAP will combine its call for universal access on HIV/AIDS with a demand that governments support the ILO Decent Work Agenda and its Global Jobs Pact, saying this is the only means through which the cycle of HIV/AIDS and poverty can be broken.
See the ICEM letter to the Canadian embassy on the issue here.
Sign an electronic petition targeting Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper here.
Find a model letter to send to the Canadian Embassy in your country and to your Head of State here.