WASHINGTON DC, 12 April 2023 — The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) today designated the Global Health Policy and Politics Initiative at Georgetown as a United Nations Collaborating Center to support and advance policy and laws impacting HIV/AIDS with the overarching goal of addressing the inequalities driving the pandemic.
Bridging the Georgetown School of Health and the O’Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law, the Global Health Policy and Politics Initiative leverages scholarship and technical strengths of policy and law experts embedded across Georgetown University. Matthew Kavanagh, PhD, director of the Global Health Policy and Politics Initiative at the O’Neill Institute, and assistant professor of global health in the School of Health, will spearhead the Collaborating Center.
“Legal and political forces continue to shape not only AIDS but all of the pandemics of our time. With Prof. Kavanagh’s leadership, this new Collaborating Center relationship will help build on the work he did at UNAIDS over the last year and a half and deepen our joint efforts to build the law and policy environment needed to end AIDS,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima, during a visit to Georgetown on April 12.
From September 2021 to January 2023, Kavanagh served as UNAIDS’ Interim Deputy Executive Director and special advisor to Byanyima in creating a new policy, advocacy, and knowledge branch at UNAIDS. Kavanagh stood up the structures to achieve the ambitious new Global AIDS Strategy focused on closing the inequalities underlying the continuing AIDS pandemic.
“As a Collaborating Center we look forward to working alongside United Nations colleagues from across the Joint Programme to explore more deeply the political determinants of health and help inform the development of laws and policies that can help end the HIV/AIDS pandemic and build resilience for future pandemics,” said Kavanagh. “Alongside my global health colleagues at the O’Neill Institute, School of Health, and through Georgetown’s Global Health Institute, we will be able to amplify our collective work to further advance the effective use of law and policy in response to global public health challenges, including HIV.”
Work of the Global Health Policy & Politics Initiative includes the HIV Policy Lab, a collaborative effort between Georgetown University, UNAIDS, and the Global Network of People Living with HIV, to document, track, and ultimately improve HIV-related policy environments around the world as well as work on community-led monitoring and social science research on the political determinants of health. It was founded at the O’Neill Institute, one of the world’s premier health law and policy institutes that believes that the law is a fundamental tool for solving critical health problems around the world.
“We are thrilled to partner with UNAIDS to launch this innovative Collaborating Center,” said Lawrence O. Gostin, JD, faculty director of the O’Neill Institute, which is also a designated WHO Collaborating Center. “For the past 15 years, the O’Neill Institute’s mission has been to fight for health and justice by advancing laws and policies to tackle critical health challenges worldwide. AIDS changed the world and showed the power of social mobilization. Under the extraordinary leadership of Matt Kavanagh and working with the School of Health, the Center will make a major impact on global public health and justice. I'm proud we are working in deep partnership with UNAIDS.”
“This collaboration reflects our commitment to health equity and presents new interdisciplinary opportunities for students and faculty to advance knowledge and inform policy at the nexus of inequality, law, policy, and HIV,” said Christopher J. King, PhD, dean of the School of Health, a home for scholars and students to work collaboratively across disciplines to address human health and wellbeing from various perspectives. “We are also fortunate to work alongside dedicated faculty members in Georgetown’s Global Health Institute who bring to bear significant scholarship and technical strengths in many aspects of work to eliminate HIV/AIDS.”
The agreement establishing the Collaborating Center, signed earlier today, provides a framework for inter-institutional dialogue and cooperation. In the coming months, the institutions will work to stand up a set of inequality-focused activities, develop formal, regular bilateral consultative meetings, and collaborate on sharing data and political analysis in the years ahead.
UNAIDS
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
WASHINGTON DC/GENEVA, 12 April 2023—Research and analysis by Economist Impact, conducted across 13 African countries, demonstrates that fully financing the HIV response will saves millions of lives and would produce substantial health, social and economic gains.
Not only would there be between 40% and 90% fewer new HIV infections, depending on the country, but investing in the HIV epidemic would also enhance educational outcomes, especially for young women and girls, reduce gender inequalities and boost economic growth.
“This report comes at a critical time with evidence that should act as a catalyst for political decisions to ensure full HIV funding, that will have substantial social and economic outcomes,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “It will put African countries on a path towards building more resilient healthcare systems and be better prepared for future pandemics.”
If the targets for fully financing the HIV response are met in South Africa for example, women aged 15-19 would account for almost 15% of the reduction in new HIV infections by 2030, despite making up less than 5% of the total population. In addition, increased HIV investments today would contribute to wider and sustained economic gains by 2030, and ultimately free up scarce resources going forward to address other critical health priorities. The report projects that South Africa’s GDP could be 2.8% higher and Kenya could see its GDP rise by 1.1% by 2030 if HIV funding targets are met.
“The United States Government was proud to join other United Nations Member states to adopt bold new commitments for AIDS financing by 2025” said Ambassador Dr John N. Nkengasong, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy. “Ending AIDS as a public health threat requires political, programmatic and financial leadership. All government sectors, including the Ministries of Finance, play a key role in increasing domestic financing to ensure that vulnerable populations are reached equitably and receive the prevention, care and treatment services they need.”
To assess these costs, Economist Impact, supported by UNAIDS, analysed scenarios in which 100% of financial resources required to meet the 2021 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS targets were compared to a business-as-usual funding scenario where HIV current financing and service levels are maintained. It showed that the resulting improvements in health outcomes would also increase educational gains, which combined, generate increased productivity of both current and future generations, contributing to wider economic benefits.
“Countries in Africa are up against significant challenges to secure the necessary resources to increase domestic funding for the HIV response,” said Rob Cook, clinical programme director at Economist Impact. “Policymakers will need to think innovatively about how they can use existing financing more effectively. Drawing on existing community-centred networks could play a key role in both mobilising additional resources for the HIV response and ensuring that it is equitable and reaches those most in need.”
Recent global crises, including COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, have hampered efforts to address the HIV epidemic and placed strong pressure on financing for health and other Sustainable Development Goals. Young women, children and other vulnerable populations will pay the highest price as pre-existing health and socio-economic inequalities widen. The significant fiscal challenges facing African countries has limited their ability to increase domestic financing of the HIV response and constrained overall health budgets. Economist Impact’s research points towards the need for policies that aim to both generate new revenue streams and maximise the use of existing funds and resources.
UNAIDS estimates that low and middle-income countries will need investments of US$ 29 billion annually to meet targets of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. Funding levels in 2020 fell almost 30% below targets, making subsequent resource needs harder to achieve and putting upcoming targets further out of reach. UNAIDS projects more than 7 million AIDS-related deaths by 2030, but half of those can be averted if the HIV response is fully financed and policies are rightly oriented.
Global 2025 targets include reducing new HIV infections to under 370 000 (from 1.5 million in 2021), reducing HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women to less than 50 000 and reducing the number of people dying from AIDS-related illnesses to less than 250 000 (compared to 650 000 in 2021).
LAUNCH DETAILS
The Triple Dividend event and report will be launched at an event co-hosted by UNAIDS and PEPFAR to be held at the Kaiser Family Foundation on Wednesday 12 April in Washington DC at 3pm EDT / 9pm CET / 7pm GMT and will feature:
Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director, UNAIDS
Ambassador John Nkengasong, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy, PEPFAR
Minister Mthuli Ncube, Minister of Finance of Zimbabwe
Allan Maleche, Executive Director of Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS (KELIN)
David Humphries, Global Head of Health Policy, Economist Impact
The event will be moderated by:
Jennifer Kates, Senior Vice President and Director of Global Health & HIV Policy, KFF
UNAIDS
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
UNAIDS welcomes the announcement by Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) and ViiV of three licenses signed with generic manufacturers for long-acting PrEP, and urges further urgent action by ViiV
31 March 2023
31 March 202331 March 2023
GENEVA, 31 March 2023 — UNAIDS welcomes the announcement by Medicines Patent Poo
GENEVA, 31 March 2023 — UNAIDS welcomes the announcement by Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) and ViiV of three licenses signed with generic manufacturers Aurobindo, Cipla and Viatris for long-acting Cabotegravir for PrEP (Pre-exposure prophylaxis.) PrEP reduces risk of HIV transmission from sex or injecting drug use. UNAIDS also called for urgent action by ViiV to be taken to reduce the price and increase the production of CAB-LA now.
UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director for Policy, Advocacy and Knowledge, Christine Stegling said:
“UNAIDS applauds this announcement by the Medicines Patent Pool, and congratulates the companies on securing the licensing agreement. The generic production of affordable CAB-LA is essential to preventing millions of new HIV infections. The progress made is a testament to the power of campaigning communities who have mobilised to demand long-acting medicines, and to the determined efforts of access to medicines advocates. UNAIDS thanks ViiV for the commitment to tech sharing made through these agreements, and urges all patent holders of long-acting HIV medicines, including those still in development, to commit to share, and make their technology available, now. UNAIDS welcomes that this is only the first announcement of licensing, not the last, and urges ViiV to expand the geographic coverage of the licensing to all low and middle income countries. Because generic production will take several years to get to medicines being available for use, UNAIDS also urges ViiV to right now provide its own production of CAB-LA to procurers at an affordable price and in volumes that match need. We must all be driven by the fierce urgency of now.”
Progress in the global HIV response is slowing, and too many countries are seeing rising infections. The 2025 targets are in danger, and only bold actions can enable the curve of new infections to be pulled down. The deployment of new technologies such as long-acting CAB-LA at an affordable price is urgent and will help fill critical HIV prevention needs for people facing the highest HIV risks. It is also notably welcome that one of the sub-licenses (Cipla) plans to manufacture in South Africa, in addition to India. This is an important step in support of increased local manufacturing of medicines in Africa.
UNAIDS acknowledges this concrete step towards generic production of needed innovative products but urges that short term solutions be put in place immediately and until generic products are widely available. UNAIDS is notably concerned with the recent announcements that current supplies of CAB-LA are not at all sufficient to meet growing demand, and are much less than procurers have said they could purchase. Transparency in sharing information on volumes and price by ViiV of long-acting CAB-LA is essential to help drive progress in increasing volumes.
It is vital and urgent that long-acting anti-retrovirals for PrEP be made available at an affordable price everywhere they are needed. Middle-income countries are now where the majority of new HIV infections occur and home to many of the key populations most at risk of HIV transmission and who most need access to long-acting ARVs. But many countries are not included in this license despite considerable need for affordable new health technologies.
The issuance of these three licenses should pave the way for sharing technology on other innovations for long-acting HIV prevention and for long-acting treatment. UNAIDS urges that licensing help develop a path for accelerated market entry of generic formulations of long-acting anti-retrovirals not only for prevention, but also for treatment, when normative guidance is established, and regulatory approvals are in place at country level.
UNAIDS calls on the private sector, governments and funders to ensure that everyone who needs long-acting antiretrovirals can access them. UNAIDS will continue working with the Coalition to Accelerate Access to Long-Acting PrEP that is jointly convened by the Global Fund on AIDS, TB and Malaria, PEPFAR, Unitaid and the World Health Organization (WHO) with AVAC as its Secretariat to find solutions and ensure equitable global access to pandemic-fighting technologies for all.
UNAIDS
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
African leaders pledge new commitments to end AIDS
20 February 2023
20 February 202320 February 2023
ADDIS ABABA, 20 February 2023—African leaders and partners have joined together
ADDIS ABABA, 20 February 2023—African leaders and partners have joined together at a high-level event on the side-lines of the 36th Session of the African Union to commit to a set of actions to boost progress towards ending AIDS. The event, Health Financing and Sustaining Action to End AIDS and Related Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases, was co-hosted by the African Union, NEPAD, UNAIDS and PEPFAR.
During the event, heads of state and government adopted a declaration which includes commitments to take personal responsibility and provide active leadership in the AIDS response, champion science and mobilize domestic political and financial support.
African Union Development Agency – (AUDA-NEPAD) Chief Executive Officer Nardos Bekele-Thomas gave the opening remarks, stating that this was the right time to reflect on previous commitments, implementations, and what has worked and what has not. “The COVID-19 pandemic presented essential lessons that we should use to shape the future of our health systems, the African Continent spearheaded collective actions to respond better. Furthermore, we saw the private sector coming together to work with the Governments to provide services to the people that needed them.”
The commitments come at a critical time because despite unprecedented progress, AIDS in Africa is far from over. The massive impacts of the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and HIV have exposed huge weaknesses in health systems across Africa and the continent is not on track to achieve an AIDS-free Africa by 2030.
“The coming into force of the African Medicines Agency (AMA) Treaty is an important milestone for the Continent. Aligned and coordinated regulatory systems will open up the continental market for pharmaceuticals and enable our manufacturers to leverage the advantages of the ACFTA. The AUDA-NEPAD will continue taking technical leadership in the operationalisation of the AMA which will bring us a step closer in our fight against AIDS” said Nardos Bekele-Thomas.
Africa has been disproportionately affected by the AIDS pandemic with 67% of people living with HIV living on the African continent. The spread of the disease has affected every dimension of African society.
"This event is timely as it will allow us to take stock of the progress made and challenges remaining and to consider a way to end AIDS by 2030," stated H.E. Amb. Minata Samate Cessouma, Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, African Union Commission. "A roadmap that will include achieving the 95-95-95 targets, access to medicines and diagnostics, reducing new infections, diversified and sustainable financing, while closing the equity gap. Let me reaffirm that whenever our leaders take bold initiatives and actions, significant progress has always been made. I hope there will be an Extraordinary Summit dedicated to taking concrete steps towards an AIDS-free Africa by 2030," she concluded.
United in efforts to end AIDS, Africa, supported by partners including UNAIDS, PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, has achieved remarkable results. New HIV infections have been reduced by 60% since the peak in 1996 and in some countries by as much as 95%, AIDS-related deaths have been reduced by 72% since the peak in 2004, and in 2021, 88% of people living with HIV in Africa knew their HIV status of whom 89% were accessing antiretroviral treatment.
However, for the first time in more than two decades, global progress against AIDS is faltering. In Africa, six out of seven new HIV infections among adolescents aged 15-19 years were among girls. Women and girls accounted 62% of all new HIV infections in 2021 and only 50% of children living with HIV received the lifesaving treatment they need.
During the event leaders committed to create a conducive structural, legal, regulatory, and policy environment that addresses persistent HIV-related equity gaps, promote gender equality, respect human rights, and eliminate discrimination and stigma against people living with HIV.
U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy Ambassador Dr John Nkengasong, who oversees PEPFAR said, “When HIV/AIDS is over, establishing regional manufacturing on the Continent of Africa will be our legacy for fighting infectious disease across the Continent and globally.”
The declaration noted that weak health systems are continuing to hamper progress, including inadequate human resources for health, weak drug and commodity supply chains, insufficient quality control, inadequate integration of HIV services with other health and social services. A failure to build the capacity, fund and include community organizations as critical and valued partners in the response to HIV is also preventing accelerated progress.
Winnie Byanyima, UNAIDS Executive Director sees universal health care as key. “Universal Health Coverage is another opportunity for African self-reliance, creating national insurance schemes where resources are collected and insurance is rolled out for all those who cannot afford it,” she said. “This must include HIV services. People living with HIV are citizens like any other.”
There was also a deep concern that a significant share of HIV-related programmes were primarily managed, implemented, and financed by external donors rather than governments, and that less than 10% of the 55 African Union member states have met their pledge under the Abuja declaration to allocate 15% of the annual budget to the improvement of the health sector. In the new declaration, leaders committed to implement the Abuja 15% target on domestic financing for health, while transitioning away from dependence on partners’ funding.
Leaders noted with appreciation the Outline of the Roadmap to 2030: ‘sustaining the AIDS response, strengthening health systems and ensuring health security’; and its six pillars and requested the Commission, AUDA-NEPAD to develop a fully costed Roadmap to 2030 and to submit to the Assembly at its next session.
It also invited the Assembly, 10 years after the Abuja+12 to hold a Special Session on Ending AIDS, preventable Maternal deaths and Health Systems strengthening by 2030 no later than July 2024; and called on partners, especially PEPFAR, UNAIDS, The Global Fund, The African Private Sector and others, to support the implementation of this Declaration and Roadmap to 2030.
UNAIDS
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
Phiona (38 yrs) at her home with her youngest son. Phiona works as a Peer Mother at the Rugaga IV Health Centre in Uganda. Through the program, a number of peer mothers have been trained, mentored and facilitated to support mothers to deliver HIV free babies. The peer mothers provide counseling, psychosocial support to HIV positive mothers and their spouses, “It makes it easier for people when you visit them, you talk to them and introduce yourself and share your own story with HIV. It brings trust between you and that person. It gives them assurance that you are all the same, it makes the fear go away and gives them courage to keep coming to you for assistance.” - Phiona. Through the breakthrough partnership, UNICEF and its partners have helped train primary health care and community service providers in case finding, using multiple approaches, to reach undiagnosed children of all people living with HIV. 21 April 2022 photo: UNICEF/Schermbrucker
Margret and her son Ronald (9 yrs) attend a health screening at the Madudu Health Facility Mubende, Uganda. Ronald is weighed and his MUAC (measurement of upper arm circumference) is taken. Margret and Ronald are HIV positive and currently on medication. Ronald started getting sick and it was discovered that he was not taking his medication at all - but hiding the tablets under his tongue and then spitting them out. Due to the fact that Ronald was not taking his drugs, his viral load completely dropped and he became sick and virally unsuppressed. Fortunately for Ronald, the medical staff at the Madudu Health Centre intervened and managed to get him virally suppressed once more through proper adherence. “The difference in Ronald from before taking the medication properly and now is so big. I see so much improvement.” - Margret. Through the BP partnership UNICEF and partners are aiming to address issues of adherence and viral suppression - one of the greatest challenges being that children often struggle to take the medication at consistent times, and sometimes they struggle to even take it at all. One of the interventions has been to ensure children are on optimal ART regimens by rapidly rolling out WHO-approved child-friendly therapeutic options. 22 April 2022 photo: UNICEF/Schermbrucker
Screenshot from video for Global Alliance launch 2022: ending AIDS in children. Credit: UNICEF
African leaders unite in pledge to end AIDS in children
01 February 2023
01 February 202301 February 2023
DAR ES SALAAM, 1 February 2023—Ministers and representatives from twelve African
DAR ES SALAAM, 1 February 2023—Ministers and representatives from twelve African countries have committed themselves, and laid out their plans, to end AIDS in children by 2030. International partners have set out how they would support countries in delivering on those plans, which were issued at the first ministerial meeting of the Global Alliance to end AIDS in children.
The meeting hosted by the United Republic of Tanzania, marks a step up in action to ensure that all children with HIV have access to life saving treatment and that mothers living with HIV have babies free from HIV. The Alliance will work to drive progress over the next seven years, to ensure that the 2030 target is met.
Currently, around the world, a child dies from AIDS related causes every five minutes.
Only half (52%) of children living with HIV are on life-saving treatment, far behind adults of whom three quarters (76%) are receiving antiretrovirals.
In 2021,160 000 children newly acquired HIV. Children accounted for 15% of all AIDS-related deaths, despite the fact that only 4% of the total number of people living with HIV are children.
In partnership with networks of people living with HIV and community leaders, ministers laid out their action plans to help find and provide testing to more pregnant women and link them to care. The plans also involve finding and caring for infants and children living with HIV.
Vice-President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Philip Mpango said, “Tanzania has showed its political engagement, now we need to commit moving forward as a collective whole. All of us in our capacities must have a role to play to end AIDS in children. The Global Alliance is the right direction, and we must not remain complacent. 2030 is at our doorstep.”
The First Lady of Namibia Monica Geingos agreed. “This gathering of leaders is uniting in a solemn vow – and a clear plan of action – to end AIDS in children once and for all,” she said. “There is no higher priority than this.”
Twelve countries with high HIV burdens have joined the alliance in the first phase: Angola, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, the United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The work will centre on four pillars across:
Early testing and optimal treatment and care for infants, children, and adolescents;
Closing the treatment gap for pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV, to eliminate vertical transmission;
Preventing new HIV infections among pregnant and breastfeeding adolescent girls and women; and
Addressing rights, gender equality and the social and structural barriers that hinder access to services.
UNICEF welcomed the leaders’ commitments and pledged their support. "Every child has the right to a healthy and hopeful future, but for more than half of children living with HIV, that future is threatened," said UNICEF Associate Director Anurita Bains. "We cannot let children continue to be left behind in the global response to HIV and AIDS. Governments and partners can count on UNICEF to be there every step of the way. This includes work to integrate HIV services into primary health care and strengthen the capacity of local health systems."
“This meeting has given me hope,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “An inequality that breaks my heart is that against children living with HIV, and leaders today have set out their commitment to the determined action needed to put it right. As the leaders noted, with the science that we have today, no baby needs to be born with HIV or get infected during breastfeeding, and no child living with HIV needs to be without treatment. The leaders were clear: they will close the treatment gap for children to save children’s lives.”
WHO set out its commitment to health for all, leaving no children in need of HIV treatment behind. “More than 40 years since AIDS first emerged, we have come a long way in preventing infections among children and increasing access to treatment, but progress has stalled,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “The Global Alliance to End AIDS in Children is a much-needed initiative to reinvigorate progress. WHO is committed to supporting countries with the technical leadership and policy implementation to realise our shared vision of ending AIDS in children by 2030.”
Peter Sands, Executive Director of The Global Fund, said, “In 2023, no child should be born with HIV, and no child should die from an AIDS-related illness. Let’s seize this opportunity to work in partnership to make sure the action plans endorsed today are translated into concrete steps and implemented at scale. Together, led by communities most affected by HIV, we know we can achieve remarkable results.”
PEPFAR's John Nkengasong, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, said he remains confident. "Closing the gap for children will require laser focus and a steadfast commitment to hold ourselves, governments, and all partners accountable for results. In partnership with the Global Alliance, PEPFAR commits to elevate the HIV/AIDS children's agenda to the highest political level within and across countries to mobilize the necessary support needed to address rights, gender equality and the social and structural barriers that hinder access to prevention and treatment services for children and their families."
EGPAF President and CEO, Chip Lyons, said that the plans shared, if implemented, would mean children were no longer left behind. “Often, services for children are set aside when budgets are tight or other challenges stand in the way. Today, African leaders endorsed detailed plans to end AIDS in children – now is the time for us all to commit to speaking up for children so that they are both prioritized and included in the HIV response.”
Delegates emphasized the importance of a grounds-up approach with local, national and regional stakeholders taking ownership of the initiative, and engagement of a broad set of partners. The alliance has engaged support from Africa REACH and other diverse partners and welcomes all countries to join.
“We have helped shape the Global Alliance and have ensured that human rights, community engagement and gender equality are pillars of the Alliance,” said Lilian Mworeko, Executive Director of the International Community of Women living with HIV in Eastern Africa on behalf of ICW, Y+ Global and GNP+. “We believe a women-led response is key to ending AIDS in children.”
Progress is possible. Sixteen countries and territories have already been certified for validation of eliminating vertical transmission of HIV and/or syphilis; while HIV and other infections can pass from a mother to child during pregnancy or while breastfeeding, such transmission can be interrupted with prompt HIV treatment for pregnant women living with HIV or pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for mothers at risk of HIV infection.
Last year Botswana was the first African country with high HIV prevalence to be validated as being on the path to eliminating vertical transmission of HIV, which means the country had fewer than 500 new HIV infections among babies per 100 000 births. The vertical transmission rate in the country was 2% versus 10% a decade ago.
UNAIDS, networks of people living with HIV, UNICEF and WHO together with technical partners, PEPFAR and The Global Fund unveiled the Global Alliance to end AIDS in children in July 2022 at the AIDS conference in Montreal, Canada. Now, at its first ministerial meeting, African leaders have set out how the Alliance will deliver on the promise to end AIDS in children by 2030.
UNAIDS
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
Watch launch event from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, 1 February 2023
unaids.orgUNAIDS
UNAIDS welcomes the announcement that Spain will be making a new € 1 million contribution to UNAIDS
06 January 2023
06 January 202306 January 2023
GENEVA, 6 January 2023—Spain’s Ministry of Health has officially announced €&nbs
GENEVA, 6 January 2023—Spain’s Ministry of Health has officially announced € 1 million to support UNAIDS’ work on ending AIDS by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals.
“We warmly welcome Spain’s renewed political, technical and financial leadership at this critical time,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “We look forward to continuing the partnership with Spain to end AIDS both within the country and around the world and tackle the inequalities that continue to drive the pandemic. We strongly commend Spain for its actions and encourage more partners to become funders to the Joint Programme.”
In May 2022, the Ms Byanyima visited Spain to meet with the Minister of Health Carolina Darias who praised UNAIDS on its leadership and coordinating role in the global fight to end AIDS. She stressed that the response to HIV remains a top priority and that Spain would look at ways in which it could increase support to global efforts.
In recent weeks, a series of donors, including the UK, Australia and the Netherlands have announced funding commitments and multi-year agreements to UNAIDS to fill the funding gap which was discussed at UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board meeting held in Chiang Mai, Thailand in December 2022.
“Spain is walking the talk by taking an important step to become a donor again and help UNAIDS to deliver on the Global AIDS Strategy 2021-2026, we congratulate Spain on its efforts and renewed commitment to UNAIDS,” said Ms Byanyima.
UNAIDS has led the global AIDS response since 1996, positioning, defining and scaling up the response to HIV by providing the quality data on the HIV pandemic, calling for action, fostering dialogue and ensuring that communities most affected by HIV have a seat at the decision-making table.
Minister Darias expressed the Spanish Government's commitment, together with UNAIDS, to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, as well eliminating stigma and discrimination against people living with and affected by HIV. She also reaffirmed that ending AIDS will be a priority issue during the next Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2023.
UNAIDS looks forward to continuing to build the partnership with Spain to remove all forms of discrimination and ensure an effective response to HIV, based on evidence and grounded in human rights.
UNAIDS
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
UNAIDS Board members commit to bold action to ensure the end of AIDS
16 December 2022
16 December 202216 December 2022
The 51st meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board concluded today, with comm
The 51st meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board concluded today, with commitments to bold action to get the world on track to end AIDS by 2030. The meeting, which brings together member states, civil society and UN agencies, saw a series of pledges made and agreements for joint work which will tackle the inequalities which drive the AIDS pandemic.
“The meeting this week has made vital steps forward – on resourcing, on communities, and on inequalities. Delegates have committed to fully fund the AIDS response, to support community leadership, to amplify the message of U=U (Undetectable=Untransmittable), to fight stigma and discrimination, and to support education, empowerment and Comprehensive Sexuality Education. By turning the commitments made this week into action, we can get the world on track to end AIDS by 2030,” remarked UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima. “We cannot fail. Failing means people die. Together we must win. By ensuring that communities are empowered and included, that inequalities are tackled, and that the HIV response is fully resourced, this generation of leaders can be leaders who overcome the AIDS pandemic.”
The Programme Coordinating Board noted that a fully funded and staffed UNAIDS is essential for progress to end AIDS. As the NGO Delegation put it, “Survival is at stake, real lives are at stake, we need your support now, not later.” Several donor countries including the UK and Ireland announced that they were stepping up their financial contributions. Donor countries stated their intention to shift towards providing more predictable longer-term funding through multiyear commitments. Delegates also committed to support fundraising from new donors from across sectors. Board members welcomed the recommendations of the report of the PCB Bureau based on the recommendations of the Informal Multistakeholder Task Team on the UNAIDS Funding Situation which can ensure full funding for UNAIDS.
“It was so encouraging to see the commitment of delegates to finding the money that is needed for UNAIDS work to lead global efforts to end AIDS,” said the Chair of the Programme Coordinating Board, Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health, Anutin Charnvirakul. “With global crises and unaddressed inequalities having put the AIDS response in danger, the world cannot risk a situation in which the UNAIDS Joint Programme is underfunded. Fully funding the vital integrated work of the secretariat and the 11 co-sponsoring agencies that provides the data, advances the essential policy shifts, and lifts up the voices of communities, will save lives and help end the world’s deadliest pandemic. Delegates spoke up powerfully and in no uncertain terms. In 2023 we are all committed to ensuring UNAIDS has the resources the world needs it to have.”
The meeting saw the first international definition of a community-led response to a pandemic, published after a two-year consultative process that brought together 11 governments, representing each region of the world, and 11 civil society representatives. Using the new definitions and recommendations, Minister of Health of Germany, Professor Dr. Karl Lauterbach and the UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima published an article in The Lancet calling for inclusion of comprehensive “community pandemic infrastructure” in pandemic prevention, preparedness and response in new planning, international agreements, and financing.
Organisations of people living with HIV presented, through the report of the representative of the PCB NGO, vital findings on the importance of amplifying the message of “U=U” or “Undetectable = Untransmittable”, that people living with HIV who achieve and maintain an undetectable viral load, cannot transmit HIV sexually. They shared how communicating this important information widely helps to increase testing and treatment and also helps to combat the stigma that people living with HIV face. Their call to step up amplification of the U=U message won wide support from delegates.
There was endorsement for the work of the Global Partnership for Action to end all forms of HIV-related stigma and discrimination, which has now expanded to include 33 countries. There was praise for Barbados which this week became the most recent country to end the criminalization of same sex relationships.
Considering the power of education to tackle gender inequality and help prevent HIV transmission, the PCB endorsed the call for an integrated, multisectoral and coordinated HIV response. They endorsed initiatives such as Education Plus, positioning schools as an entry point to address learners’ holistic education, health and protection needs, and backed cross-sectoral collaboration across ministries, families, teachers, school administration and local communities to safeguard rights. They recognised the need for alternative mechanisms to address the needs of young people who are out of school, and the importance of UNAIDS’ support for countries to scale up their comprehensive sexuality education.
The meeting highlighted unacceptable gaps in access to HIV services, including through a thematic segment on how to tackle the current poor performance against global HIV targets among men. A wide-ranging panel showcased innovative approaches to engaging men in all their diversity, finding ways to overcome the harmful gender norms that hold back progress, which will be crucial to achieve the 2030 goal of ending AIDS.
The meeting was held in Chiang Mai, Thailand – the first time in 14 years that the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board has met outside of Geneva, an important shift bringing decision-making closer to the communities most affected. Delegates visited pioneering community-led and public programmes that are helping Thailand to tackle HIV, including learning why and how Thailand is shifting from a punitive to a harm reduction approach to help reduce the risks of HIV infection and other risks for people who inject drugs. They also saw how faith communities are being engaged in work to tackle the stigma faced by LGBT people. Thailand has dramatically reduced new infections through this inclusive approach.
“Thailand has been able to show the world key lessons we have learnt in the AIDS response,” said UNAIDS Country Director for Thailand, Patchara Benjarattanaporn, “including by empowering and supporting communities to lead, decriminalising marginalised communities and tackling stigma. Thailand has also been inspired by lessons from around the world and has been reenergised to ensure that we complete the work of ending AIDS by 2030.”
For its 2023 leadership, the Board elected Germany as Chair, Kenya as Vice-chair and Brazil as Rapporteur and approved the composition of the PCB NGO Delegation for next year. In a video message to the Programme Coordinating Board, Professor Dr. Karl Lauterbach, Minister of Health, Germany, remarked: “Challenging tasks lie ahead of us, but I am confident that collectively we will be able to address them effectively in 2023. For the sake of those we have lost to AIDS over the decades, for the sake of the millions of people living with the virus, for the sake of communities and countries affected, and for the sake of those people – mostly young people – that we can prevent from getting infected, let us uphold our joint commitment to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 and let us work together.”
UNAIDS
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
UNAIDS Executive Director's report to the 51st UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board
Over almost two decades, Thailand’s Mplus Foundation has refined a unique approach to providing comprehensive HV services to key population clients including men who have sex with men and transgender women.
The UNAIDS multi-stakeholder task team on community-led responses was co-convened by the World Health Organization and United Nations Development Programme, and presented outcomes to the 51st Programme Coordinating Board meeting of the UN Joint Programme on HIV and AIDS.
Since its formation in 2003 Mplus has evolved to deliver a full range of services. They now have health centres in four provinces, while their mobile testing units serve clients in another five districts. They support a local hospital in each province, linking people to care and helping them with adherence. Mplus provides rapid testing, CD4 and viral load monitoring, and is also authorized to dispense medication. A small fleet of motorcycles even makes PrEP deliveries to clients in remote areas.
Pandemics can only be defeated if communities are supported to lead, say governments, NGOs and UN
15 December 2022
15 December 202215 December 2022
CHIANG MAI, THAILAND, 15 December 2022—Community-led responses are a critical pa
CHIANG MAI, THAILAND, 15 December 2022—Community-led responses are a critical part of the AIDS pandemic response, and must be prioritised in resourcing. The approach, set out by governments, civil society organisations and United Nations agencies at an international meeting on AIDS in Chiang Mai, Thailand, will also be key for tackling other pandemics and for preparing for the pandemics to come, delegates said. The meeting saw the first international definition of a community-led response to a pandemic, published after a two-year consultative process that brought together 11 governments, representing each region of the world, and 11 civil society representatives. This UNAIDS multi-stakeholder task team on community-led responses was co-convened by the World Health Organization and United Nations Development Programme, and presented outcomes to the 51st Programme Coordinating Board meeting of the UN Joint Programme on HIV and AIDS.
Using the new definitions and recommendations, German Federal Health Minister Prof. Karl Lauterbach and the UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima published an article in The Lancet today calling for inclusion of comprehensive “community pandemic infrastructure” in pandemic prevention, preparedness and response in new planning, international agreements, and financing. In it, the leaders show that strong community infrastructure, working synergistically with government, is a necessary but neglected element of effective pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. Using evidence from AIDS, mpox, COVID-19, and Ebola, the authors describe how community-led organisations bring trust, communications channels, and reach to marginalised groups that complement government roles and improve equity.
The new international definitions and recommendations can help planners and funders for AIDS and other pandemics identify the elements of an effective community response. Community-led organizations, defined as "groups and networks, whether formally or informally organized ... for which the majority of governance, leadership, staff, spokespeople, membership and volunteers, reflect and represent the experiences, perspectives, and voices of their constituencies and who have transparent mechanisms of accountability to their constituencies,” form a backbone of that response. Crucially, it is noted that "not all community-based organizations are community-led.”
"While what is most often understood as infrastructure – like labs and hospitals – are important, also essential to effective pandemic response is the community infrastructure which includes people to do outreach, trusted voices who can speak to excluded communities, independent accountability mechanisms, and participation in decision-making,” explained Dr Matthew Kavanagh, UNAIDS Deputy Executive a.i for Policy, Advocacy and Knowledge. “This task team of governments, civil society, and international organizations has given important new tools to support the building and monitoring of community-led capacity. We will only be able to end AIDS and stop other pandemics by ensuring that this community infrastructure is intentionally enabled, strengthened, monitored, and resourced.”
The United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/ AIDS (UNAIDS) Board meeting in Chiang Mai included dialogue between member states and non-state participants on how to develop laws and policies to facilitate community-led response. The recommendations of the multistakeholder task team include developing better systems for financing community-led organisations, which often face legal, capacity, and eligibility barriers to national and international financing mechanisms; monitoring community-led capacity; and integrating data generated by community groups into response management.
To end the AIDS pandemic, board members pointed out, community responses to HIV must be integrated into all levels of countries’ AIDS strategies including planning, budgeting, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
The principles developed apply not only to AIDS. "Stopping COVID-19, mpox, and Ebola, and preparing for the next pandemic, all require that partnership of government and community together. The newly agreed framework for defining and measuring community-led responses make us better equipped to address the inequalities that are holding back progress in ending AIDS,” said Dr Kavanagh.
In Thailand, as delegates saw for themselves first hand, key-population-led health services have reached people at increased risk of HIV, achieving among the most equitable HIV responses in the region. In South Africa, community leaders with Ritshidze, which represents people living with HIV, visit clinics and communities to assess COVID-19, HIV, and tuberculosis services and hold administrators accountable for addressing issues such as long waiting times or confidentiality gaps that keep some people away from health services. Amid war, Ukraine’s 100% Life, a network of people living with HIV, has used peer networks to communicate with displaced people, delivering medicines, food, and emergency assistance.
"International pandemic agreements and funding should include specific goals for community-led capacity," said Dr Kavanagh. "To be effective, pandemic responses need to move beyond one-way communications to bring communities into decision making at all levels. Community leadership is not mere nice-to-have. It is essential for ending pandemics."
The Lancet article marking the occasion by the German Health Minister and the UNAIDS Executive Director is here.
The report presented at the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board meeting is here.
Resources on Community Led Pandemic Response are here.
UNAIDS
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
Community-led AIDS responses — Final report based on the recommendations of the multistakeholder task team
Comment — Community pandemic response: the importance of action led by communities and the public sector
BANGKOK, 11 December 2022—The 51st meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) will be held from December 13 - 16 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The meeting is hosted by the Government of Thailand as Chair of the 2022 PCB. It is the first time in 14 years that the board will meet outside Geneva, Switzerland and the second time it will be in Chiang Mai.
“We are grateful to Thailand for its global AIDS response leadership. The country has taken significant strides toward ending its HIV epidemic and is setting an example for the world of translating political will into action,” said Taoufik Bakkali, Director a.i. of the UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Asia and the Pacific.
Hosting this meeting in Thailand helps sustain momentum in the Asia Pacific region to fulfill commitments made by the community of nations in the 2021 political declaration on HIV, Mr. Bakkali said.
The UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board meeting demonstrates an inclusive approach. Civil society organizations, including associations of people living with HIV, will sit around the table with member states and UN agencies. The attendees will go together to visit and learn from programmes supporting affected people. “This inclusivity is at the heart of the effectiveness of the UNAIDS approach,” said Mr Bakkali. “Increasingly, it is being asked of international processes where are they being held, who is participating, and how is the process connecting with experiences of the most affected people. This meeting is being held in a country which has so many lessons to share from its AIDS response.”
The UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board provides oversight and strategic direction for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS, which guides and supports the HIV response globally.
The 22nd PCB meeting in 2008 was also held in Chiang Mai under the auspices of former Public Health Minister, Chavarat Charnvirakul. This meeting will be chaired by his son, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health, Anutin Charnvirakul.
The Thailand HIV response
There were an estimated 520,000 people living with HIV in 2021.
Thailand has made considerable progress against AIDS, especially in providing life-saving testing and treatment to people living with HIV. The country was first in the region to be validated as having eliminated mother-to-child HIV transmission in 2016. It has also joined the Global Partnership to Eliminate all Forms of HIV-related Stigma and Discrimination.
Since 2010, AIDS-related deaths have declined by almost two-thirds (65%) while new infections fell by 58%. Last year an estimated 94% of people living with HIV in Thailand were aware of their status. Ninety-one percent of diagnosed people were on treatment and 97% of those on treatment achieved viral suppression.
Ahead of the PCB, delegates will learn about notable Thailand HIV response successes. The country has been a trailblazer for integrating HIV services into the Universal Health Coverage scheme. This has become a mechanism for sustainable HIV response financing by significantly increasing investments in key population- and community-led health services.
Thailand has leveraged several best practices to end AIDS, including legalizing over-the-counter sales of HIV self-test kits, scaling up same-day treatment initiation for newly diagnosed people and successfully rolling-out a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) programme. (PrEP is a daily medicine taken by an HIV negative person to prevent contracting the virus.) Thailand’s focus on public health, and its efforts in tackling stigma and discrimination, have been key to progress made.
“Thailand is on-track to meet and exceed the 2025 95% testing and treatment targets. To do so it must reach those still not accessing HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care services,” said UNAIDS Country Director for Thailand, Patchara Benjarattanaporn. She noted that a key priority now is for Thailand to get people diagnosed earlier and further reduce new infections. Last year there were an estimated 6500 new HIV infections in Thailand. Critically, half of all new infections occur among young people between ages 15 and 24, most of them among people in key population communities.
“Thailand provides excellent HIV services. Unfortunately, too many young people do not get the prevention information, services and support they need. And some people living with HIV become aware of their status late, with already advanced illness. As we work to reach those being left behind, we must address inequalities in access to information, services and support and continue to innovate and scale up effective, community-led approaches,” Ms. Benjarattanaporn said. “Through bold action to tackle inequalities, we can end AIDS by 2030.”
UNAIDS
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
51st meeting, UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board, 13-16 December 2022
unaids.orgUNAIDS
Criminalisation has hurt sex workers and perpetuated the AIDS pandemic. UNAIDS welcomes South Africa's call to end it.
04 December 2022
04 December 202204 December 2022
Responding to the decision of South Africa's Cabinet to propose a Bill that will repeal criminali
Responding to the decision of South Africa's Cabinet to propose a Bill that will repeal criminalisation of sex work, UNAIDS Country Director Eva Kiwango said:
"The evidence is clear: Criminalisation has been proven to have increased the risks faced by South Africa's sex workers, hurt their health and safety, and obstructed South Africa's HIV response.
UNAIDS welcomes South Africa's Cabinet's proposal to repeal criminalisation and to protect sex workers against abuse and exploitation.
Criminalisation has impeded South African sex workers' access to vital health-care services, including effective HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services.
To end AIDS, we need to repeal the harmful punitive laws which are perpetuating the pandemic. To save lives, decriminalise."
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
