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"In the war on AIDS refugees are often excluded" - Ruud Lubbers
News Stories, 28 November 2003
By Ruud Lubbers
GENEVA – The trauma of war, violence and
- Text size | | |
"In the war on AIDS refugees are often excluded" - Ruud Lubbers
News Stories, 28 November 2003
By Ruud Lubbers
GENEVA – The trauma of war, violence and persecution followed by the misery of exile are often the sad destiny of refugees. In parts of the world affected by HIV/AIDS the plight of the uprooted is even worse. Not only are refugees accused of spreading HIV and other diseases but they are often excluded from multi-million-dollar HIV/AIDS programmes designed to combat the global scourge.
Stigmatizing refugees as HIV carriers is morally repugnant. It is also grossly unfair. Recent studies show that
in some AIDS stricken countries, refugees have lower HIV prevalence rates than the surrounding populations that host them. They also recommend that refugees should always be included in the host countries' efforts to fight AIDS. Excluding them from HIV/AIDS programmes is highly discriminatory and epidemiologically counterproductive.
Of the 29 countries in Africa that host more than 10,000 refugees, only 35% have outlined activities for refugees in their National Strategic Plans. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) and the Multi-Country HIV/AIDS Programmes of the World Bank have funded HIV/AIDS projects in 24 of these 29 countries that between them host millions of refugees. But less than half of those proposals actually included refugees.
What it means in practice is that large numbers of refugees are effectively barred from policies and programmes that benefit the populations which host them. This is morally unacceptable and nonsensical in a public health sense, as one cannot seriously combat the spread of HIV and at the same time ignore a segment of the population within a country affected by it.
Over the last two years, UNHCR and its partners have worked with refugees to improve HIV/AIDS programmes for refugees. However, our funds are limited. Also, it is the host governments who are ultimately responsible for the protection and well-being of refugees on their soil. This includes effective measures to prevent the spread of HIV amongst the uprooted. Addressing only the needs of their own citizens, while ignoring those of refugees who daily interact with them is a contradiction in HIV/AIDS prevention and care strategies.
HIV/AIDS programmes should address both groups and be integrated and well-coordinated. Host governments should begin by ensuring that specific programmes for refugees and the local surrounding communities are included in their HIV/AIDS national strategic plans and policies. They also must make sure that these policies are actually enforced at the district level.
Part of the responsibility rests with the donor community who must ensure that refugees are not excluded from HIV/AIDS programmes. GFATM and the World Bank should insist that the programmes they fund include all vulnerable groups, including refugees.
The develo