Commitments were also made to provide AIDS education services for sexual and reproductive health, to aid migrant populations in obtaining access to basic health and education services, to study the impact of AIDS on national development, and to develop national legislation which protects against HIV-related discrimination. Dr. Cravero said that those goals are being undermined as the pandemic worsens in many regions of the world. Especially in Africa, decades of gains in education and health are being eradicated by this epidemic. In many developing countries but particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, the impact of AIDS on social development is being harshly felt. As household income drops, young people are forced out of school and into the workplace earlier.
Children are also hard hit by the epidemic.
Like teachers, hospital staff deaths are on the rise. In 1995, governments at the WSSD in Copenhagen made commitments to eradicate poverty, improve education and access to primary health care, and accelerate development in Africa and less developed countries. We have learned that AIDS and poverty are closely connected. Unless we address AIDS we cannot make progress on poverty and unless we do more to eradicate poverty, AIDS will remain a major threat. Turning commitments into reality will require translating global commitments into concrete country-level policies, Dr. Cravero said.