UN Says It’s Time To End AIDS, Especially Since Covid Damaged Efforts

AP: UN Urges Action To End AIDS, Saying COVID-19 Hurt Progress
The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a declaration Tuesday calling for urgent action to end AIDS by 2030, noting “with alarm” that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated inequalities and pushed access to AIDS medicines, treatments and diagnosis further off track. The declaration commits the assembly’s 193 member nations to implement the 18-page document, including reducing annual new HIV infections to under 370,000 and annual AIDS-related deaths to under 250,000 by 2025. It also calls for progress toward eliminating all forms of HIV-related stigma and discrimination and for urgent work toward an HIV vaccine and a cure for AIDS. (Lederer, 6/9)

The New York Times: A U.N. Declaration On Ending AIDS Should Have Been Easy. It Wasn’t. 
The United Nations on Tuesday adopted new targets for ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, seemingly a goal most countries could easily have agreed to. But consensus had been elusive. In early negotiations over the agreement, called a political declaration, the United States and the European Union fought to ban policies and laws that stigmatize, or even criminalize, high-risk groups — and drastically scaled back moves to relax patent protections for H.I.V. drugs. (Mandavilli, 6/8)

In other global developments —

Bloomberg: U.K. Sends Military To Covid Hotspots To Help Tackle Variant
The U.K. sent military personnel to hotspots in northern England to help tackle the highly transmissible delta variant of coronavirus, which is fueling a rise in cases just as ministers face a crunch decision over whether to ease lift remaining lockdown restrictions on June 21. Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced a “strengthened package of support” in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, including more testing and door-to-door visits to encourage vaccine take-up. Residents were advised to minimize travel, though officials insisted it’s not a local lockdown. (Ashton, 6/8)

CNBC: UK Could Delay June 21 Lifting Of Covid Measures Due To Delta Variant
Despite much fanfare over its rapid vaccination program and the unlocking of coronavirus restrictions in recent months, the U.K. could be about to delay its much-vaunted lifting of all lockdown measures in England on June 21. Concerns around the “Delta” variant of the virus, the mutation originally discovered in India, have grown in recent weeks with the number of cases attributed to the variant, and hospitalizations, rising — particularly among the not-yet vaccinated and in northwest England and Scotland. (Ellyatt, 6/9)

AP: EU Lawmakers OK Virus Pass, Boosting Summer Travel Hopes
European Union lawmakers on Wednesday endorsed a new travel certificate that will allow people to move between European countries without having to quarantine or undergo extra coronavirus tests, paving the way for the pass to start in time for summer. The widely awaited certificate is aimed at saving Europe’s travel industry and prime tourist sites from another disastrous vacation season. Key travel destinations like Greece have led the drive to have the certificate, which will have both paper and digital forms, rapidly introduced. (Cook, 6/9)

Bloomberg: Russian Covid Cases Surge Over 10,000 For First Time Since March
New cases of Covid-19 in Russia surged over 10,000 on Wednesday to the highest in more than three months as widespread skepticism toward domestically-developed vaccines undermines attempts to corral the pandemic. The growing number of cases in Russia is unusual among countries that offer adults universal access to a vaccine, and belie official statements that the situation is nothing to worry about. (Rudnitsky, 6/9)

In news about abortion in El Salvador —

The Washington Post: Salvadoran Woman Who Says She Lost Pregnancy In Fall Freed After Serving 9 Years On Abortion Sentence
Sara Rogel, a pregnant woman living in a village in El Salvador, was doing laundry when she slipped and fell. Her parents found her bleeding, she said, and rushed her to a nearby hospital, but she had already lost what advocates tracking her case called a “very wanted” pregnancy. Instead of consoling her, doctors contacted the police. Rogel was accused of having an illegal abortion and handcuffed to her hospital bed. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison for aggravated homicide under El Salvador’s strict abortion ban, which often catches poor women suffering obstetric emergencies in its crosshairs, according to rights groups. (Parker, 6/8)