A universal access to treatment of HIV and AIDS has been an objective of society for the last ten years. However there are still many economically underdeveloped countries in North Africa and the Middle East, where access to drugs and the overall awareness of the population about prevention methods are very low. More than 100 countries have set their individual target percentage of treatment coverage to be reached by 2010. Most of them are aiming at 80 percent of universal access to treatment. According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO) there is progress in the area with three million life years earned for the last eight years.

Promoting human rights protection is also necessary for the prevention of HIV and AIDS for two reasons. First, it is needed to fight the epidemic, because a violation of human rights such as for example prostitution, whether voluntary or involuntary, spreads the virus. Second, because by promoting the prevention and treatment of AIDS as a fundamental human right, society can decrease the discrimination against HIV infected individuals.

According to data from UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, since the beginning of the epidemic around 60 million people have been infected with the HIV virus, out of which 25 million have died from causes linked to the disease.