It is estimated in this region that more than half a million people are infected with HIV. Efforts are needed if inroads are to be made against the AIDS epidemic. Although many Caribbean governments have initiated a limited response to HIV/AIDS much remains to be done. This report provides an overview of the challenges and opportunities in addressing the problem of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean. It presents a snapshot of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the region and offers examples of ways in which Caribbean countries and regional bodies such as the Caribbean Community have responded to the epidemic, discusses alternative actions for addressing the crisis and highlights a range of strategies for donor coordination and cooperation in the region. Finally the report identifies the potential role of the World Bank in addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Caribbean

An international team of specialists in politics, policy, and activism provide an indispensable guide to the persistent challenges and emerging issues posed by the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, now in its fourth decade. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is at a critical turning point. Compelling new findings herald the potential to eventually grind the epidemic to a halt through a combination of expanded treatment coverage and new biomedical approaches to prevention. At the same time, the severe global economic downturns have negatively affected wealthy donor nations that have provided the funds and technical support for programs in the developing world. It is against this backdrop that this landmark three-volume set was developed. It provides a broad overview of the critical political issues surrounding HIV/AIDS, inspects key areas of policy and policymaking, and spotlights the most important forms of activism and community mobilization. The volumes reflect an eclectic and wide-ranging set of issues written by an international team comprising dozens of authors from nations including the United States, the United Kingdom, Ghana, South Africa, Brazil, Cambodia, Norway, and Qatar. The international contributors represent a variety of disciplines and bring with them a range of styles and methodological approaches appropriate to their specific topics and disciplines. An important addition to academic and public libraries, this expansive work will benefit students and other readers interested in politics, policymaking, public health, activism, and community mobilization, both in the United States and globally.

As we approach the 25th anniversary of the first recognition of HIV/AIDS in 1981, this book reflects on the international impact of the disease. It has persistently remained a global issue, with more than 50 million people worldwide estimated to have been infected since that date. This ambitious book, written by 165 authors from 30 countries, offers a multi-country comparative study that examines how the response to the common, global threat of HIV is shaped by the history, culture, institutions and health systems of the individual countries affected. Increasingly the shift of health systems has been from prevention only as the main containment strategy, to a strategy that includes scaling up HIV treatment, and care and prevention services, including antiretroviral therapy. Thus, all parts of the health system must be involved; policy makers, healthcare professionals and users of the services have been forced to think differently about how services are financed, how resources are allocated, how systems are structured and organized, how services are delivered to patients, and how the resulting activity is monitored and evaluated in order to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, equity and acceptability of the response. This book is unique in attempting to describe and assess a range of responses across the globe by situating them within the characteristics of each country and its health system. Most chapters combine a health policy expert with an HIV specialist, allowing both a 'top down' health system approach and a 'bottom up' HIV-specific perspective. There are thematic and analytical sections, which provide an overview and some suggestions for solutions to the most serious outstanding issues, and chapters which analyse specific country and organisational responses. There is no perfect health system, but the evidence provided here allows the sharing of knowledge, and a opportunity to assess the impact and reactions, to an epidemic that must be considered a long term issue.

The 2002 edition of this quadrennial publication presents a regional analysis of the health situation and trends in the Americas region, as well as for each of the 47 countries and territories in the region. It is published in two volumes and covers mainly the years from 1997-2000. This edition focuses upon the inequalities in health. Volume One looks at issues dealing with leading health and health-related indicators, ranging from mortality and changes in life expectancy to the relationship between health and income distribution. It also considers current health conditions and trends including disease prevention and control, health promotion and environmental protection. Volume Two examines each country's overall health conditions, including institutional organisation, health regulations and the overall operation of health services.

The authors present an overview of gender-based violence (GBV) in Latin America, with special emphasis on good practice interventions to prevent GBV or offer services to its survivors or perpetrators. Intimate partner violence and sexual coercion are the most common forms of GBV, and these are the types of GBV that they analyze. GBV has serious consequences for women's health and well-being, ranging from fatal outcomes, such as homicide, suicide, and AIDS-related deaths, to nonfatal outcomes, such as physical injuries, chronic pain syndrome, gastrointestinal disorders, complications during pregnancy, miscarriage, and low birth-weight of children. GBV also poses significant costs for the economies of developing countries, including lower worker productivity and incomes, and lower rates of accumulation of human and social capital. The authors examine good practice approaches in justice, health, education, and multisectoral approaches. In each sector, they identify good practices for: (1) law and policies; (2) institutional reforms; (3) community-level interventions; and (4) individual behavior change strategies.

The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to national AIDS programmes and partners on the use of indicators to measure and report on the country response. The 2016 United Nations Political Declaration on Ending AIDS, adopted at the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AIDS in June 2016, mandated UNAIDS to support countries in reporting on the commitments in the Political Declaration. The Political Declaration on Ending AIDS built on three previous political declarations: the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, the 2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS and the 2011 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS.