English |

The International Conference on Population and Development established the effective prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, as an integral component of reproductive health services. There are clear interactions between reproductive health and HIV/AIDS, most HIV infections being sexually transmitted or associated with pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding. In addition, reproductive ill-health and HIV/AIDS share root causes, including poverty, gender inequality and social marginalization of the most vulnerable populations. There is evidence of important synergies between reproductive health and HIV prevention, care and treatment interventions. Forging closer linkages between these programme areas should result in significant public health benefits and is necessary in order to attain international development goals and targets. These include the achievement of universal access to reproductive health by 2015, as set out at the ICPD, and reversing the AIDS epidemic and mitigating its impact, as agreed at the Millennium Summit, the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS and the World Summit. (excerpt)