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The following are excellent web resources that will provide you with answers to questions you were too embarrassed to ask… Other resources are for international information dissemination.
The Body - What Is AIDS?
The CDC National Prevention Information Network (NPIN) is the U.S. reference, referral, and distribution service for information on HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and tuberculosis (TB). NPIN produces, collects, catalogs, processes, stocks, and disseminates materials and information on HIV/AIDS, STDs, and TB to organizations and people working in those disease fields in international, national, state, and local settings.
AIDS Education Global Information System (AEGiS) presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a stitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
HIV InSite is developed by the Center for HIV Information (CHI) at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), one of the world's leading health sciences institutions. HIV InSite's mission is to be a source for comprehensive, in-depth HIV/AIDS information and knowledge. The site has an extensive collection of original material, including the HIV InSite Knowledge Base, a complete textbook with extensive references and related links organized by topic. Unlike many commercially oriented sites, HIV InSite's policy is to link to the best of the Web, and thousands of links to external Web sites are incorporated into the site's original content. It is the policy of HIV InSite to allow free, anonymous access to all of the site's content.
HIV/AIDS Resources On The World Wide Web - Listing of National, Regional and International HIV/AIDS Resources On The World Wide Web.
UN AIDS: The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS - As the leading advocate for worldwide action against HIV/AIDS, the global mission of UNAIDS is to lead, strengthen and support an expanded response to the epidemic that will: prevent the spread of HIV; provide care and support for those infected and affected by the disease; reduce the vulnerability of individuals and communities to HIV/AIDS; and; alleviate the socioeconomic and human impact of the epidemic.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is one of the 13 major operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which is the principal agency in the United States government for protecting the health and safety of all Americans and for providing essential human services, especially for those people who are least able to help themselves.
For 58 years, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has been working with partners around the world to promote the recognition and fulfillment of children’s human rights. This mandate was established in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and is achieved through partnerships with governments, nongovernmental organizations and individuals in 162 countries, areas and territories. UNICEF brings to UNAIDS this extensive network and its ability for effective communication and advocacy. UNICEF’s priorities in addressing the AIDS epidemic include prevention among young people, reducing mother-to-child transmission and caring for and protecting orphans, vulnerable children, young people and parents living with HIV or AIDS.
The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world’s largest humanitarian agency. It helps poor households affected by hunger and AIDS by using food aid and other resources to address prevention, care and support. WFP’s food assistance helps keep parents alive longer, enables orphans and vulnerable children to stay in school, permits out-of-school youth to secure viable livelihoods and enables tuberculosis patients to complete their treatment. WFP works in partnership with governments, other United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations and communities and helps people—regardless of their HIV status—who lack adequate food to secure nutrition and food security.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a development agency with strong country presence. Its role is to promote an enabling policy, legislative and resource environment which helps create an effective response to AIDS. UNDP supports countries in placing AIDS at the centre of national development agendas; promotes government, civil society, private sector and community leadership; helps countries to develop capacity for action as well as to plan, manage and implement responses to the epidemic. UNDP also works to ensure that women and people living with HIV are empowered and directly involved in the response to AIDS.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), builds on over three decades of experience in reproductive health and population issues by focusing its response to the epidemic—in over 140 countries—on HIV prevention among young people and pregnant women, comprehensive male and female condom programming and strengthening the integration of reproductive health and AIDS. UNFPA further contributes through meeting the reproductive health rights and needs of HIV-positive women and adolescents, promoting voluntary counselling and testing as well as services which prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission, improving access to HIV and AIDS information and education and to preventive commodities, including those needed in emergency settings. It also provides demographic and socio-cultural studies to guide programme and policy development.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is responsible for coordinating and providing leadership for all United Nations drug control activities, and for international cooperation in preventing and combating transnational crime and terrorism. In this context, UNODC supports comprehensive approaches to HIV prevention and care among injecting drug users. In prison settings, UNODC assists in implementing international instruments, norms and standards, which ensure that all inmates receive health care, including for HIV and AIDS. UNODC helps governments to combat people trafficking, and provides guidance to reduce trafficked victims’ health consequences, particularly from HIV infection and AIDS.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) promotes decent work and productive employment for all, based on principles of social justice and non-discrimination. The ILO’s contribution to UNAIDS includes: its tripartite membership, encouraging governments, employers and workers to mobilize against AIDS; direct access to the workplace; long experience in framing international standards to protect the rights of workers; and a global technical cooperation programme. The ILO has produced a Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work—an international guideline for developing national and workplace policies and programmes.
Within the UN system, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has a special responsibility for education. Since ignorance is a major factor in the AIDS epidemic, prevention education is at the top of UNESCO’s agenda. Education is needed to make people aware that they are at risk or vulnerable, as well as to generate skills and motivation necessary for adopting behaviour to reduce risk and vulnerability and to protect human rights. UNESCO works with governments and civil society organizations to implement policies and programmes for prevention education, and to mitigate the impact of AIDS on education systems.
The objective of the World Health Organization (WHO) is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health. Its work in HIV and AIDS is focused on the rapid scale up of treatment and care while accelerating prevention and strengthening health systems so that the health sector response to the epidemic is more effective and comprehensive. WHO defines and develops effective technical norms and guidelines, promotes partnership and provides strategic and technical support to Member States. The Organization also contributes to the global AIDS knowledge base by supporting surveillance, monitoring and evaluation, reviewing the evidence for interventions and promoting the integration of research into health service delivery.
The World Bank’s mission is to fight poverty with passion and professionalism. To combat AIDS, which is threatening to reverse the gains of development, the Bank has committed more than US$2 billion for HIV and AIDS projects worldwide. Most of the resources have been provided on highly concessional terms, including grants for the poorest countries. To address the devastating consequences of AIDS on development, the Bank is strengthening its response in partnership with UNAIDS, donor agencies and governments. The Bank’s response is comprehensive, encompassing prevention, care, treatment and impact mitigation.
Rumors and myths are untrue stories accepted without critical examination. Many of these fictional phrases have evolved around HIV/AIDS. It is easier to believe these rather than do your homework about the facts.
You may have heard some of the many rumors and myths that have been floating around for years about HIV/AIDS in Africa and other developing nations; including how AIDS was spread, how it is passed around, and existing cures for this deadly disease. Know the facts and stay informed.The following are excellent web resources that help separate fact from fiction:
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