Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS: midway to the Millennium Development Goals, The Secretary General, U.N. Doc. A/62/780 (2008)

This report analyzes the global progress toward achieving the goals stated in the Declaration of Commitment, the Political Declaration, and the Millennium Goals. It specifically looks at progress and the remaining challenges in the areas of: the status of the epidemic; young people’s knowledge about HIV; prevention of mother-to-child transmission; HIV prevention for populations most at risk; women and HIV; HIV treatment; children orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV; discrimination and HIV; and financing for HIV-related activities.

The report also makes key recommendations in the areas of: national leadership; sustainability of the response to HIV; scaling up prevention in severely-affected countries; mounting an effective response in concentrated epidemics; sustaining treatment scale-up while strengthening measures to address HIV/tuberculosis co-infection; and addressing the role of gender inequities.

This document is useful for advocates seeking an understanding of the HIV epidemic globally, and how poverty, misinformation, and gender inequalities contribute to that epidemic. It also provides general information about trends over the past few years and how the international community has responded to the HIV epidemic since the Declaration of Commitment.