Cote d'Ivoire

While on a brief stop in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé met with First Lady Dominique Ouattara and congratulated her on the work she is carrying out to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. As a UNAIDS Special Advocate, Ms Outtara is committed to improving access to antiretroviral therapy for women and children living with HIV.

Ms Outtara, a long-time humanitarian activist, has recently launched an action plan to ensure that no child is left behind in the AIDS response in Côte d’Ivoire and the rest of Africa. The goal is to stop new HIV infections among children and keep their mothers healthy. Achieving an AIDS-free generation is a priority for UNAIDS. 

Mayors from major cities and urban areas in Côte d’Ivoire have come together to sign the Paris Declaration, pledging their support to accelerate the response to HIV over the next five years.

Thirteen mayors from the Abidjan district and around 20 from other major cities across the country joined UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé and the Governor of Abidjan, Beugré Mambé, to sign the Paris Declaration, putting their cities on the Fast-Track to ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

The Paris Declaration includes commitments to reach ambitious 90–90–90 targets by 2020, which will mean 90% of people living with HIV knowing their HIV status, 90% of people who know their HIV-positive status on antiretroviral therapy and 90% of people on treatment with suppressed viral loads.

It is estimated that around 40% of people living with HIV in Côte d’Ivoire live in Abidjan, which has an HIV prevalence of 3.6%, compared with 2.7% nationally.

The Paris Declaration was signed in Paris on World Aids Day 2014 by the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, and more than 20 of her counterparts from cities around the world. Other mayors are now being invited to join the initiative. 

During its annual meeting in Abidjan, which was attended by UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé, members of Côte d’Ivoire’s national AIDS council reiterated their pledge to Fast-Track their response to end the country’s AIDS epidemic.

President Alassane Ouattara, who leads the national AIDS council, told delegates that no one should be left behind and pointed to recent legislation passed by parliament to end stigma and discrimination against people affected by HIV.

During the meeting, President Ouattara also welcomed innovative funding streams originating from taxes on tobacco products and air travel, which have contributed to a national solidarity fund aimed at accelerating the response to the epidemic.

It is estimated that 370 000 people in Côte d’Ivoire are living with HIV, with just one in three currently accessing antiretroviral treatment.

At a ceremony in Abidjan, UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé has honoured the First Lady of Côte d’Ivoire, Dominique Ouattara, for her humanitarian work and her commitment to improving access to paediatric treatment for children living with HIV. 

“Ms. Ouattara’s personal involvement is the clearest sign of her commitment to the most disadvantaged and of her interest in the health of mothers and their children, not only in Côte d’Ivoire but in the whole of Africa,” said Mr Sidibé.

Ms Ouattara is to become a Special Advocate for UNAIDS, helping to raise awareness for programmes aimed at preventing new HIV infections among children and advocating for women and children living with HIV to access antiretroviral therapy.

“This distinction will be a catalyst for my commitment to the elimination of AIDS. From now on, every action to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Côte d’Ivoire, in Africa and in the world will find a favourable echo in me. I am fully engaged in this fight and I will remain committed until we reach an AIDS-free generation,” said Ms Ouattara.

Ms Ouattara has been involved in humanitarian issues for many years. In 1998, she created the Children of Africa Foundation, which has supported several projects in Côte d’Ivoire, including the construction of a school and a centre for unaccompanied children as well as the promotion of child immunization campaigns.

How to realize Africa’s potential for the future of all its peoples and build international support for the continent’s development were key questions explored in the first session of the Africa Rising Forum held this week in New York.

Taking place at the Africa Center and organized by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, the 22 September event brought together a number of African heads of state, United Nations partners, and leaders from African civil society and the business community.

They examined how to move beyond simply talking about the need for broad-based economic transformation and sustainable development to taking concrete steps to make them a reality, especially with regard to the post-2015 development agenda. 

A session on ensuring shared prosperity looked at ways to improve investment and resource mobilization, champion entrepreneurship and ensure social protection. Another stressed that development cannot be achieved without the existence of good governance, peace, security and respect for human rights.

It was agreed that ensuring health for all was a critical facet of Africa’s rise, and that ending the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030 now a realistic goal. There was also a consensus that the continent’s rise should not only be measured in terms of overall wealth generated but by the inclusiveness of socioeconomic progress that leaves no one behind.

In a strong demonstration of commitment to the global response to HIV and to UNAIDS, the President of Côte d’Ivoire Alassane Ouattara has announced that Côte d’Ivoire will donate US$ 1 million to support UNAIDS work in helping countries to achieve the targets set out in the 2011 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS.

"I have decided to donate US$ 1 million to UNAIDS because I believe in a society with zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths," said President Ouattara during the meeting of Côte d’Ivoire’s National AIDS Council.

The contribution was confirmed by the Minister of Health Côte d’Ivoire Raymonde Goudou Coffie who was representing Côte d’Ivoire at UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board meeting in Geneva. "I am delighted to be at the UNAIDS Board and to announce our contribution of US$ 1 million for its essential work and as a sign of shared responsibility," said Ms Coffie.

“This contribution to UNAIDS makes Côte d’Ivoire the first African country to become one of UNAIDS 20 most important donors,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS.

Côte d’Ivoire joins the Republic of the Congo and Senegal in becoming the first African countries to financially contribute to UNAIDS.

The President of Côte d’Ivoire Alassane Ouattara said his country is committed to stopping new HIV infections among children in a meeting with UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé, on the side-lines of the 39th conference of Francophone parliamentarians, which took place in Abidjan from 9 to 12 of July. Mr Sidibé also asked the President to lead the region and the continent on innovative financing in the HIV response,

During his one-day official visit to Côte d’Ivoire, Mr Sidibé also met with the country’s President of the National Assembly, Guillaume Kigbafori Soro, and pushed for a more inclusive society in Côte d’Ivoire. There is draft legislation pending in Parliament which aims to improve living conditions for people living with HIV.

UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé and Côte d’Ivoire Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan (right). Credit: UNAIDS/Basil Zoma

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé urged the Côte d'Ivoire government to intensify its efforts in the HIV response. Mr Sidibé wrapped up a two-day official visit to the country on 27 March.

Côte d'Ivoire estimates that there were 17 000 new HIV infections in 2011 and it estimates that 3.7% of the population were living with HIV that same year, which is the second highest HIV prevalence in West Africa. Less than 50% of people in need of antiretroviral (ARV) treatment are accessing it.

During a meeting with Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan, Mr Sidibé pointed out that half of all women living with HIV in Côte d'Ivoire have no access to HIV treatment and stressed the need for the government to do more to stop new HIV infections in children.

Mr Sidibé congratulated the government for mobilizing US$ 8 million in additional funding for the HIV response through a tax on tobacco and air travel, but he said the country must still share more of the responsibility for funding its HIV programming. Currently, the country depends on external funding for 90% of its HIV response and has a funding gap of US$ 247 million.

Prime Minister Duncan said that President Alassane Ouattara’s strategy for making health a top national priority includes the main principles for conducting reform of the health sector. He said that his government has been implementing for nearly a year a policy of free health care for pregnant women and children under five years old and that the government intends to introduce universal health coverage this year.

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé and Minister of Health of Côte d’Ivoire Raymonde Goudou Coffie.

The Prime Minister acknowledged the need to ensure the availability of essential medicine. Currently 80% of ARVs are imported from outside of Africa, primarily from India.  Prime Minister Duncan said that his country had started talks with India on the possibility of producing ARVs in Côte d'Ivoire.

Mr Sidibé also met with the Minister of Health Raymonde Goudou Coffie who said that government had increased 24% of its budget on health and was fully committed to restoring the country’s health system. In talks with the Minister of Justice Gnenema Coulibaly, Mr Sidibé raised his concerns regarding an increase in post-conflict sexual violence following a recent civil war in Côte d'Ivoire and advocated for advancing the implementation of a resolution on ending sexual violence.