A/CONF.171/13 English Page 63 (b) To ensure that HIV-infected individuals have adequate medical care and are not discriminated against; to provide counselling and other support for people infected with HIV and to alleviate the suffering of people living with AIDS and that of their family members, especially orphans; to ensure that the individual rights and the confidentiality of persons infected with HIV are respected; to ensure that sexual and reproductive health programmes address HIV infection and AIDS; (c) To intensify research on methods to control the HIV/AIDS pandemic and to find an effective treatment for the disease. Actions 8.30. Governments should assess the demographic and development impact of HIV infection and AIDS. The AIDS pandemic should be controlled through a multisectoral approach that pays sufficient attention to its socio-economic ramifications, including the heavy burden on health infrastructure and household income, its negative impact on the labour force and productivity, and the increasing number of orphaned children. Multisectoral national plans and strategies to deal with AIDS should be integrated into population and development strategies. The socio-economic factors underlying the spread of HIV infection should be investigated, and programmes to address the problems faced by those left orphaned by the AIDS pandemic should be developed. 8.31. Programmes to reduce the spread of HIV infection should give high priority to information, education and communication campaigns to raise awareness and emphasize behavioural change. Sex education and information should be provided to both those infected and those not infected, and especially to adolescents. Health providers, including family-planning providers, need training in counselling on sexually transmitted diseases and HIV infection, including the assessment and identification of high-risk behaviours needing special attention and services; training in the promotion of safe and responsible sexual behaviour, including voluntary abstinence, and condom use; training in the avoidance of contaminated equipment and blood products; and in the avoidance of sharing needles among injecting drug users. Governments should develop guidelines and counselling services on AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases within the primary health-care services. Wherever possible, reproductive health programmes, including family-planning programmes, should include facilities for the diagnosis and treatment of common sexually transmitted diseases, including reproductive tract infection, recognizing that many sexually transmitted diseases increase the risk of HIV transmission. The links between the prevention of HIV infection and the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis should be assured. 8.32. Governments should mobilize all segments of society to control the AIDS pandemic, including non-governmental organizations, community organizations, religious leaders, the private sector, the media, schools and health facilities. Mobilization at the family and community levels should be given priority. Communities need to develop strategies that respond to local perceptions of the priority accorded to health issues associated with the spread of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases. /...