CEDAW/C/BRB/CO/5-8 (b) The limited information available to lesbian, bisexual and transgender women and girls on sexual and reproductive health and rights and the insufficient training of medical personnel on the special needs of lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex women; (c) The lack of information on the prevalence of cervical and breast cancer in the State party and on the treatment available to women and girls; (d) The prevalence of HIV/AIDS among women in the State party. 36. In line with its general recommendation No. 24 (1999) on women and health, the Committee calls upon the State party: (a) To ensure that the health sector receives appropriate budget allocations and improve women’s access to high-quality health care; (b) To intensify age-appropriate education on sexual and reproductive health and rights in schools and the dissemination of information on family planning and available, accessible and affordable contraceptive methods in order to reduce the number of unwanted and early pregnancies; (c) To improve access to information on sexual and reproductive health and rights for lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex women and girls and train medical personnel to respond to their specific health needs; (d) To collect disaggregated data on the prevalence of cervical and breast cancer in the State party and provide training to medical and health professionals on the early detection of those diseases, including in rural areas; (e) To intensify the implementation of strategies to combat HIV/AIDS, in particular preventive strategies, and continue to provide free antiretroviral treatment to all women and girls with HIV/AIDS. Economic empowerment of women 37. The Committee notes the State party’s efforts to combat poverty through the poverty alleviation and reduction programme and the identification, stabilization, enablement and empowerment programme. Nevertheless, the Committee is concerned that austerity measures, including budget cuts in order to reduce debt, have had a significant impact on social programmes and that the regressive Value Added Tax and National Social Responsibility Tax have disproportionally affected women. It is particularly concerned with regard to the following: (a) The State party’s financial secrecy policies and rules on corporate reporting and taxation having a potentially negative impact on the ability of other States, in particular those already short of revenue, to mobilize the maximum available resources for the fulfilment of women’s rights; (b) The high prevalence of poverty in women-headed households and the lack of information on the concrete impact of social programmes to improve the economic situation of women in rural and urban areas; (c) The lack of information on loan schemes, mortgages and other forms of financial credit for women and the provision of specific training on women’s entrepreneurship. 38. The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Undertake the studies and evaluations necessary to monitor the gender-specific effects of the austerity measures and ensure an internal redistribution of its domestic resources in order to overcome the consequences of budget cuts, giving priority to measures which support gender equality in all 10/14 17-11292