International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS

Last updated

The International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW), a registered UK charity, [1] is an international network run for and by HIV positive women. ICW was established to support programs designed to safeguard and improve the quality of life for women living with HIV.

Contents

ICW Global [2] operates in 120 countries through ten regional networks, including North America [3] and Eastern Africa [4] networks.

Formation

ICW was formed by a group of HIV positive women from many different countries attending the 8th International Conference on AIDS held in Amsterdam in July 1992. HIV positive women shared stories and strategies for coping and devised action plans for the future. An important achievement at this first ICW pre-conference was drawing up the "Twelve Statements". These statements relate to the issues and needs facing all women living with HIV worldwide and form the basis of the organisation's philosophy. During this meeting, the women agreed that they did not want to lose this momentum and ICW was created. [5]

Purpose

ICW is an international network run for and by HIV positive women that promotes and advocates for changes that improve the lives of HIV positive women and gives them a voice. Over the course of its 20-year existence, ICW has been a unified force for women living with HIV. ICW has made a significant impact in international forums, winning a voting position on the International AIDS Conference Coordinating Committee and Consultative Status at the UN Economic and Social Council. Their global advocacy program ensures that women living with HIV have a voice in the creation of policy that affects their lives and fights for the needs of women, young women, adolescents, and girls living with HIV in significant global decision-making arenas. [6]

Funding

ICW is financially supported by many organisations, trusts and foundations. The major ones include DANIDA, NOVIB and UNAIDS. Project-specific grants have recently been provided by Comic Relief and the UK Government through the Department for International Development.[ citation needed ]

In Kenya

The National coordinator in Kenya until 2020 was Inviolata Mbwavi. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS</span> United Nations organization

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS is the main advocate for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HIV/AIDS in Africa</span>

HIV/AIDS originated in the early 20th century and remains a significant public health challenge, particularly in Africa. Although the continent constitutes about 17% of the world's population, it bears a disproportionate burden of the epidemic. As of 2023, around 25.6 million people in sub-Saharan Africa were living with HIV, accounting for over two-thirds of the global total. The majority of new infections and AIDS-related deaths occur in Eastern and Southern Africa, which house approximately 55% of the global HIV-positive population.

HIV-positive people, seropositive people or people who live with HIV are people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus which if untreated may progress to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS</span> Pandemic of HIV/AIDS

The global pandemic of HIV/AIDS began in 1981, and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), by 2023, HIV/AIDS had killed approximately 40.4 million people, and approximately 39 million people were infected with HIV globally. Of these, 29.8 million people (75%) are receiving antiretroviral treatment. There were about 630,000 deaths from HIV/AIDS in 2022. The 2015 Global Burden of Disease Study estimated that the global incidence of HIV infection peaked in 1997 at 3.3 million per year. Global incidence fell rapidly from 1997 to 2005, to about 2.6 million per year. Incidence of HIV has continued to fall, decreasing by 23% from 2010 to 2020, with progress dominated by decreases in Eastern Africa and Southern Africa. As of 2023, there are about 1.3 million new infections of HIV per year globally.

Professor Sheila Dinotshe Tlou is a Botswana nurse, specialist in HIV/AIDS and women's health, and nursing educator. She was Minister of Health from 2004 to 2008. Professor Tlou is a distinguished advocate for human resources for health issues. She is a recognized visionary leader and champion.

Beatrice Were is a Ugandan AIDS activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HIV/AIDS in the Democratic Republic of the Congo</span>

The Democratic Republic of the Congo was one of the first African countries to recognize HIV, registering cases of HIV among hospital patients as early as 1983.

Kenya has a severe, generalized HIV epidemic, but in recent years, the country has experienced a notable decline in HIV prevalence, attributed in part to significant behavioral change and increased access to ARV. Adult HIV prevalence is estimated to have fallen from 10 percent in the late 1990s to about 4.8 percent in 2017. Women face considerably higher risk of HIV infection than men but have longer life expectancies than men when on ART. The 7th edition of AIDS in Kenya reports an HIV prevalence rate of eight percent in adult women and four percent in adult men. Populations in Kenya that are especially at risk include injecting drug users and people in prostitution, whose prevalence rates are estimated at 53 percent and 27 percent, respectively. Men who have sex with men (MSM) are also at risk at a prevalence of 18.2%. Other groups also include discordant couples however successful ARV-treatment will prevent transmission. Other groups at risk are prison communities, uniformed forces, and truck drivers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HIV/AIDS in Lesotho</span>

HIV/AIDS in Lesotho constitutes a very serious threat to Basotho and to Lesotho's economic development. Since its initial detection in 1986, HIV/AIDS has spread at alarming rates in Lesotho. In 2000, King Letsie III declared HIV/AIDS a natural disaster. According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in 2016, Lesotho's adult prevalence rate of 25% is the second highest in the world, following Eswatini.

HIV/AIDS in Eswatini was first reported in 1986 but has since reached epidemic proportions. As of 2016, Eswatini had the highest prevalence of HIV among adults aged 15 to 49 in the world (27.2%).

HIV/AIDS in Bolivia has a less than 1 percent prevalence of Bolivia's adult population estimated to be HIV-positive. Bolivia has one of the lowest HIV prevalence rates in the Latin America and Caribbean region.

Cases of HIV/AIDS in Peru are considered to have reached the level of a concentrated epidemic.

Honduras is the Central American country most adversely affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It is estimated that the prevalence of HIV among Honduran adults is 1.5%.

With 1.28 percent of the adult population estimated by UNAIDS to be HIV-positive in 2006, Papua New Guinea has one of the most serious HIV/AIDS epidemics in the Asia-Pacific subregion. Although this new prevalence rate is significantly lower than the 2005 UNAIDS estimate of 1.8 percent, it is considered to reflect improvements in surveillance rather than a shrinking epidemic. Papua New Guinea accounts for 70 percent of the subregion's HIV cases and is the fourth country after Thailand, Cambodia, and Burma to be classified as having a generalized HIV epidemic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HIV/AIDS in Canada</span>

HIV/AIDS was first detected in Canada in 1982. In 2018, there were approximately 62,050 people living with HIV/AIDS in Canada. It was estimated that 8,300 people were living with undiagnosed HIV in 2018. Mortality has decreased due to medical advances against HIV/AIDS, especially highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volodymyr Zhovtyak</span>

Volodymyr Zhovtyak is a Ukrainian social activist and a human rights defender. He is one of the leaders of the movement of people living with HIV/AIDS in Ukraine, and in the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. He is one of the founders of the national and international non-governmental organizations of PLWH, which collaborates with institutions of the United Nations, the European Union and the USA, as well as with the Cabinet of Ministers and the Presidential Administration of Ukraine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic Medical Mission Board</span>

The Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB) is an international, faith-based NGO providing long-term, co-operative medical and development aid to communities affected by poverty and healthcare issues. It was established in 1912 and officially registered in 1928. CMMB is headquartered in New York City, USA and currently has country offices in Haiti, Kenya, Peru, South Sudan and Zambia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global Network of Sex Work Projects</span> Not-for-profit organisation

Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) is an organisation that advocates for the health and human rights of sex workers. It is a private not-for-profit limited company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and founded in November 1990. NSWP is a membership organisation, with members from five regions. NSWP publishes resources, including briefing papers, policy briefs, community guides, global and regional reports, smart guides, statements, the Research for Sex Work Journal, and case studies. It supports the decriminalization of sex work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inviolata Mbwavi</span> Kenyan HIV-activist (1972–2020)

Inviolata Mbwavi was a Kenyan HIV activist.

INPUD is an international non-profit organization grouping local groups and collectives of people who use illicit drugs, which aims at "A world where people who use drugs are free to live their lives with dignity." INPUD was founded in 2006 in Vancouver, Canada, and formally launched in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 1 November 2008.

References

  1. ↑ "Search the register of charities". register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  2. ↑ "ICW - The International Community of Women Living with HIV". ICW | International Community of Women Living with HIV. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
  3. ↑ ian. "Home". ICW North America. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
  4. ↑ "International Community of Women living with HIV Eastern Africa" . Retrieved 2022-09-30.
  5. ↑ icwglobal (2022-06-30). "History of International Community of Women living with HIV". ICW | International Community of Women Living with HIV. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
  6. ↑ icwglobal (2022-06-30). "Today | ICW | International Community of Women living with HIV". ICW | International Community of Women Living with HIV. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
  7. ↑ "Celebrating the life of Inviolata Mbwavi, Kenyan AIDS activist". www.unaids.org. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.