Events

Mayors from four cities, together with a representative of civil society and the core partners of the Fast-Track cities initiative—UNAIDS, the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC), the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the city of Paris—participated in a virtual side event on urban settings on 10 June, held during the United Nations High-Level Meeting on AIDS.

The participants reflected on the progress made in urban HIV responses and disruptions related to COVID-19, the importance of sustained political leadership and commitment during public health crises and the critical role of communities in strengthening HIV and other health services.

“A Fast-Track city is a city embracing human rights and advocating for more equality and freedom. The freedom to be true to yourself, to live where you want, to live free of prejudice, and with equal chance to stay healthy,” said the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, in her opening address.

In her message, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, the Executive Director of UN‐Habitat, highlighted that, “Reducing inequalities is central to both UN-Habitat’s mission broadly and to ending urban HIV epidemics given the unacceptable disparities we see with respect to HIV among sexual and ethnic minorities, including the LGBTQ+ populations, migrants and refugees, and other marginalized populations, such as those in slums and informal settlements.”

Sibongile Tshabalala, the national Chairperson of the Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa, emphasized the importance of community leadership if we want to end AIDS, and called for communities to be at the centre of the HIV response within the context of ending social marginalization and health inequalities.

Attending mayors from Baton Rouge, Johannesburg, Kyiv and Quezon City presented their experiences in exercising public health leadership in HIV responses at the city level and in mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many cities have made significant progress in accelerating their urban HIV responses since the beginning of the Fast-Track cities initiative on World AIDS Day 2014. In Kyiv, for example, according to national data the percentage of people who know their HIV status and are on antiretroviral therapy rose from less than 50% in 2015 to 83% in 2019, with 95% of those being virally suppressed. In Paris, according to national data the number of new HIV infections dropped by 16% between 2015 and 2018. And in Johannesburg, a targeted testing approach during the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in the percentage of people living with HIV knowing their status, from 86% in March 2020 to 91% in 2021, according to national data.

Maria Josefina Belmonte, the Mayor of Quezon City, called on mayors to use the “Power and resources at their disposal towards the common good, including eradicating HIV and addressing issues that others are afraid to address because they are controversial or they may not be acceptable or not be politically sound.” She added that, “It is every person’s right to live freely, humanely and justly in the world they were born in and it is our duty as mayors elected by the people to make that happen for them.”

The moderator of the event, IAPAC President/Chief Executive Officer José M. Zuniga, recognized the progress made by Fast-Track cities, even within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. “City public health leadership is translating into countless lives saved and enhanced, including as Fast-Track cities grapple with an emerging COVID-19 pandemic and simultaneously work to maintain a continuity of HIV and other essential health services for all of their citizens,” he said.

In many cities, the 90–90–90 targets for 2020 were not achieved, partly because of COVID-19-related disruptions, but also due to persistent inequalities and social exclusion. A prioritization of social enablers is therefore required to regain momentum against HIV across the Fast-Track cities network.

In her closing statement, Winnie Byanyima, the UNAIDS Executive Director, called on cities and municipalities around the world to recommit to accelerated urban HIV responses, to exercise public health leadership to achieve the 2025 targets, to end inequalities and social exclusion and to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

Since the United Nations High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS in 2016, the young key populations’ movement and its visibility have grown considerably in Asia and the Pacific. Through their engagement with national and regional networks of key populations, more and more young people have taken up space in decision-making processes and in mobilizing resources to support local and national organizations. However, despite those important efforts, more needs to be done to meaningfully engage young key populations in the HIV response as leaders, beneficiaries and partners.

UNAIDS data from 2019 alarmingly shows that 27% of all new HIV infections in Asia and the Pacific were among young people. Young gay men and other men who have sex with men accounted for 52% of all new HIV infections among young people. Overall, 99% of new HIV infections among young people were among young key populations and their partners.

A side event held on the sidelines of the United Nations High-Level Meeting on AIDS, held in New York, United States of America, and online from 8 to 10 June, looked at the progress made and challenges in the HIV response and emphasized the critical role of young people in leading change and promoting successful and innovative approaches to the HIV response.

The speakers and panellists stressed that significant barriers exist for young key populations to access HIV testing, treatment and prevention services and routine sexual and reproductive health and rights services in the region. Those barriers include a limited availability of differentiated HIV services for young key populations, stigma and discrimination, punitive laws and other legal barriers that leave young key populations on the margins and out of reach of HIV services.  The COVID-19 pandemic continues to widen existing inequalities and service gaps, but thanks to the engagement of community-led organizations, populations at higher risk of HIV, including young key populations, were able to access essential HIV and health services.

The speakers and panellists noted that young people are showing us the way to revolutionize HIV prevention and increase the uptake of HIV services by implementing new strategies and innovations that cater to the specific needs of young people. During the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations led by and serving young people, such as the Lighthouse Social Enterprise in Viet Nam and the Human Touch Foundation in India, have been at the forefront of the HIV response, providing HIV services in partnership with the local government to the communities that need them the most.

The team at the Human Touch Foundation, a community-based organization in Goa, India, that provides care and support to adolescents living with HIV has, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, organized volunteers to deliver antiretroviral therapy to people’s doorsteps. Moreover, the organization played a critical role in getting the local government to waver public transport costs to ensure that people living with HIV had access to treatment. With the increased anxiety and depression brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Human Touch Foundation offered psychosocial support services to adolescents living with HIV, both in the form of online counselling and in-person consultations.

Similarly, the Lighthouse Social Enterprise, a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) organization led by young people based in Hanoi, Viet Nam, has been instrumental in providing differentiated service delivery to young key populations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the services it provides at its clinic include HIV counselling and testing, post-exposure prophylaxis, pre-exposure prophylaxis and antiretroviral therapy. The Lighthouse Social Enterprise also established a referral service to ensure that young key populations are linked with other health services, such as sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment, mental health support and harm reduction services. What makes the Lighthouse Social Enterprise unique is that the clinic is entirely run by young people. Health-care workers are given training by the Lighthouse Social Enterprise team on LGBTI and key population needs and issues in order to ensure that services are youth-friendly and free from stigma and discrimination. Last year, the Lighthouse Social Enterprise provided services to more than 3000 members of young key populations in Viet Nam.

The side event was an opportunity for different organizations led by and serving young people working on HIV-related issues to share experiences and define common strategies to keep HIV on the political agenda at the national and municipal levels.

NEW YORK/GENEVA, 14 June 2021—After weeks of robust discussions, the 2021 United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AIDS is drawing to a close with the adoption of a new, ambitious and achievable Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS: Ending Inequalities and Getting on Track to End AIDS by 2030. The declaration is based on evidence, grounded in human rights and will serve as an important road map to advance the global HIV response over the next five years.

“I would like to thank all Member States,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Over the past two months they have drafted, negotiated and delivered a bold political declaration that will guide global efforts to end a pandemic that has ravaged countries and communities for 40 years.”

Important advances have been achieved in the 2021 political declaration, including new targets to ensure that 95% of people at risk of HIV use combination HIV prevention services, a greater emphasis on community-led provision of services—including a target to ensure that 80% of prevention services for key populations are provided by communities—and a commitment to end inequalities, going far beyond Sustainable Development Goal 10, reduce inequalities.

The High-Level Meeting on AIDS was convened by the President of the General Assembly, with the co-facilitators—the ambassadors of Australia and Namibia—leading negotiations on the political declaration; 193 Member States were represented and the speakers included 14 presidents, five vice-presidents and four prime ministers, with many high-level dignitaries also participating in the thematic panels and 30 supporting events. The events covered issues from how to increase treatment coverage for children to how to scale up harm reduction and empower young people and adolescents.

The five thematic panels were:

• Addressing Inequalities to End AIDS: 10 Years to 2030.
• Putting People and Communities at the Centre of the Response to AIDS.
• Resources and Funding for an Effective AIDS Response.
• Advancing Gender Equality and Empowering Women and Girls in the AIDS Response.
• Addressing the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the AIDS Response and Building Back Better for Pandemic Preparedness.

The High-Level Meeting on AIDS featured the participation of people living with HIV, senior United Nations officials, representatives of international organizations, the private sector, civil society and academia and other stakeholders, who discussed practical ways of translating the new political declaration into action and results.

Eminent person and long-time AIDS activist Sir Elton John, founder of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, made a strong call to action by video message, saying, “With your leadership, we can defeat AIDS and COVID-19 and be better prepared for other pandemics that will follow. You can and will make the difference. And you have an army of supporters standing behind you, including the 38 million people living with HIV around the world. Together, we can bring an end to fear and inequality—and, by the end of this decade, end the AIDS pandemic, once and for all! The world is watching and we don’t have a moment to waste.”

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.

Communities living with and affected by HIV, including communities of key populations, are the backbone of the HIV response. They have campaigned for their rights, expanded the evidence base for effective action against HIV, supported the design and implementation of programmes and enhanced the reach and quality of health services. They ensured that the greater involvement of people living with HIV principle became an organizing norm for HIV programmes and that rights-based approaches were widely adopted.

A panel, Putting People and Communities at the Centre of the Response to AIDS, held on the sidelines of the United Nations High-Level Meeting on AIDS on 9 June, saw a high-level discussion on the opportunities and challenges for moving towards the global AIDS targets and realizing the political commitments and policy adaptations needed to support community-led responses as the world moves towards ending AIDS by 2030, and does so in the context of COVID-19.

The panel discussed supporting key population-led, women-led and other community-led responses, new priorities emerging from the community-led response to COVID-19 and fair payment for the community workforce, in particular for women living with HIV and women from key and vulnerable populations.

The panellists heard that more than three decades of experience has clearly shown that communities are at the centre of efforts to end AIDS as a public health threat, but their significant contribution is too often set aside or made more difficult by politicians or public health officials who have little or no knowledge of the lives and experiences of the people they are charged to serve.

They also heard that the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has further underscored the importance of communities in navigating difficult and rapidly changing environments and in reaching affected communities with essential services, such as COVID-19 testing and vaccination and HIV prevention, testing and treatment and other health and social services.

During their discussions, all panellists stressed that communities can deliver when there is an enabling legal environment, operating space for civil society organizations and funding and capacity-building.

The goal of putting the HIV response on a secure financial footing is a work in progress, with uneven results around the globe towards ensuring a sustainable, fully funded, effective, equitable and gender-sensitive HIV response. The 2020 target to mobilize at least US$ 26 billion for the HIV response was not met. Other targets, such as implementing efficiency measures to optimize the use of existing resources and to clear bottlenecks in scaling up services, were also missed.

A panel, Resources and Funding for an Effective AIDS Response, held on the sidelines of the United Nations High-Level Meeting on AIDS, deliberated on how to reach a sustainable, fully funded, equitable and effective HIV response in a challenging environment for health and development resources.

The panellists surveyed the current situation and key actions for the road ahead, addressing several questions: What does a sustainable, fully funded, equitable and effective HIV response look like? How can the necessary funding levels be secured in the challenging resource environment that we face? What steps can and should we take to improve the impact/effectiveness of the available resources? Are there opportunities that need to be better leveraged within the HIV response, the broader health agenda and the broader development agenda? How can we ensure that we invest in the right interventions for the right populations and places to meet the new global targets and achieve the collective goal of Sustainable Development Goal 3? 

Key actions identified by the panellists to guide future efforts include the following:

• Better targeting interventions to achieve equity and impact based on diverse and locally specific needs and goals.
• Approaches and measures to secure the necessary funding mixes, including ongoing international support and appropriate and sustainable domestic funding, and improved equity and efficiency in using those resources.
• Better integration of HIV into other health and development efforts, including universal health coverage, health system strengthening, pandemic preparedness and response and enablers, such as education and social protection, and to better link and leverage those efforts to maximize impact for people living with, at risk of or affected by HIV.
• The importance of ensuring that critical cross-cutting factors, such as gender-sensitivity, eliminating inequalities, leveraging data and prevention, are appropriately supported and integrated throughout.
• The need for shared responsibility, which calls for countries that can pay for their own responses to do so fully, and for those without the ability to pay, to be supported by donors as part of global solidarity.

The panel also examined how investments in the HIV response can help to reduce vulnerabilities and societal inequalities and how to catalyse more effective social spending using a rights-based, people-centred model that empowers individuals and communities. 

Finally, the panel situated the discussion in the broader development and fiscal contexts by exploring the economics of HIV, as well as how to tackle inequalities and use people-centred HIV responses to put us on track to reach Sustainable Development Goal 3. It addressed the costs of inaction and complacency, not only for the HIV response but also across the Sustainable Development Goals. Looking at fiscal realities, the panellists provided a broader analysis of the current situation and thoughts on the way forward for protecting and expanding the much-needed fiscal, budgetary and policy space through measures such as tackling public debt distress, tax injustice and illicit financial flows.

HIV is fuelled by inequalities. A panel, Addressing Inequalities to End AIDS: 10 Years to 2030, held on the sidelines of the United Nations High-Level Meeting on AIDS on 9 June, brought together a passionate mix of grass-roots activism and experience, academic wisdom, evidence-informed strategic guidance and experience from United Nations Member States and UNAIDS to discuss this urgent issue.

All the panellists underlined the need for urgent, evidence-informed and transformative action to unlock social enablers and to end the social, economic, racial and gender barriers—which include punitive laws, policies and practices, stigma and discrimination based on HIV status, sexual orientation and gender identity, and other human rights violations—that create and deepen the inequalities that perpetuate the HIV pandemic. They shared strategies and action for ending the HIV epidemic based on lived experience and backed by lessons from four decades of the HIV response.

The panellists underlined lessons from HIV and COVID-19 that have shown the world that unless all countries, communities and individuals access the benefits of science and technology without stigma and discrimination, benefit from fair taxation and equitable distribution of wealth and are respected in all their diversity, epidemics will continue to rage.

The participants heard that six out of seven new adolescent HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa are among girls—Winne Byanyima, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, noted that this was because of inequalities of power. The participants also heard, though, that strong political commitment to ensure that prevention services were available at the community level, with a special focus on reaching adolescent girls and young women and their partners, saw Eswatini successfully meet its HIV prevention targets.

Jeffrey Sachs, a professor at Columbia University, in the United States of America, reminded the participants that well laid out goals and time-bound and evidence-informed plans must be matched by adequate financing, without which poorer nations and poorer communities even within rich nations will not enjoy good health and well-being.

The powerful testimony of Abhina Aher, a transgender activist from India, spoke of the multiple, intersecting and dynamic inequalities faced by a person who does not conform to the social norms of mainstream Asian society.

Thanks @benphillips76 let’s unite to end inequalities #HLM2021AIDS #HLMAids2021 https://t.co/bhwY7nf0UZ

— Abhina Aher (@meisabheena) June 9, 2021

All the participants underlined the centrality of enabling laws and policies and of the need for comprehensive sexuality education to empower young people to make informed decisions about relationships and sexuality and navigate a world where gender-based violence, gender inequality, early and unintended pregnancies, and HIV and other sexually transmitted infections still pose serious risks to their health and well-being.

Interventions from representatives of the Bahamas, Germany, Mexico, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland underlined the urgency of an HIV response that addresses gender inequalities and protects and enables human rights.

In summary, it was concluded that inequalities both feed and drive the HIV epidemic as well as other diseases, but that inequalities should be fought with the right policies, strategies and legislation in order to end AIDS by 2030 and at the same time strengthen pandemic preparedness. 

Inequalities and human rights barriers, which have been magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic, are preventing progress towards ending AIDS as a global public health threat by 2030. They facilitate the transmission of HIV by increasing vulnerability to HIV and limiting access to health services, particularly for gay men and other men who have sex with men, transgender people, people who use drugs, sex workers, women and girls.

Ending inequalities is both a human rights imperative and a public health necessity. Yet, despite repeated commitments, human rights barriers that drive inequalities, such as stigma, discrimination, violence and punitive laws, continue to undermine the HIV response. 

To highlight the critical need for progress on human rights barriers, and to call on all stakeholders to play their part to increase action, UNAIDS convened civil society partners, United Nations Member States, jurists and development organizations on the sidelines of the United Nations High-Level Meeting on AIDS in New York. At the event, From Promises to Action: Scaling Up Efforts against Human Rights Barriers, including HIV-Related Stigma and Discrimination, which took place on 9 June, the panellists emphasized the critical need to generate long-term investment and transformative action on human rights and stigma and discrimination, particularly on discriminatory criminal laws, in order to change structural and social barriers and, ultimately, reduce inequalities. 

The panellists exchanged best practices, discussed how human rights-based and gender-transformative approaches could reduce inequalities and issued a call for a rapid scale-up of funding, commitment and action in this area to reach the people most left behind.

The event served as a reminder that 62% of new HIV infections in 2019 were among key populations, who are still criminalized in many countries, and their sexual partners, that due to gender inequality and harmful gender norms, AIDS is still one of the leading causes of death among adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa and six out of seven new HIV infections among adolescents (aged 15 to 19 years) in the same region are among girls.

The event also provided hope that action and change is possible. During the event, the Governments of Angola, Costa Rica and the Gambia announced that they are joining the Global Partnership for Action to Eliminate all Forms of HIV-Related Stigma and Discrimination.

At the event, Winnie Byanyima, the UNAIDS Executive Director, called on the international community to rally behind the bold new targets and commitments laid out in the Global AIDS Strategy 2021–2026. She highlighted that the strategy was a crucial development, as it set for the first time specific targets to reduce the societal enablers driving inequality, giving them the same priority and commitment as biomedical interventions.  

Having new targets means that there is a need for new tools and guidance, and Ms Byanyima unveiled a new series of human rights fact sheets to support action by all stakeholders on removing human rights barriers, such as criminal laws, stigma and discrimination. The series is available in multiple languages: in addition to English, French, Russian and Spanish (follow the language menu on the top right), it's also available in Portuguese (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7).

Around 300 faith leaders and representatives of faith-based organizations met on 7 June in an online event, Faith2EndAIDS, Faith2EndInequality, on the sidelines of the United Nations High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS.

Sharing lessons learned by faith-based organizations and faith communities in addressing stigma and discrimination, promoting human rights and increasing access to HIV services, the participants also explored the main areas of action in the political declaration on AIDS and the particular role of faith responses in implementing the commitments.

Practical examples were shared of faith-motivated programmes that increase access for people affected by inequalities, such as programmes for migrants and children. The participants emphasized the critical role that faith responses can play in mitigating stigma.

A key focus going forward is the 12 Million Campaign, where faith leaders, individuals and communities of faith commit to key actions that could promote access to HIV services by the 12 million people who are living with HIV who still do not have quality and consistent HIV treatment, care and support.

The active discussions in the chat box reflected the enthusiasm and commitment of faith communities and people of faith to play a meaningful role in ending AIDS and ending the inequalities that drive the pandemic.

Costa Rica has joined the Global Partnership for Action to Eliminate all Forms of HIV-Related Stigma and Discrimination. At a United Nations High-Level Meeting on AIDS side event on 7 June, the Vice President of Costa Rica, Epsy Campbell Barr, emphasized the country’s commitment to human rights by highlighting that a comprehensive and effective HIV response needs to include the human rights of people living with HIV.

Costa Rica is the third signatory to the global partnership in the Latin America and Caribbean region, joining Jamaica and Argentina.

The side event, Latin America and the Caribbean on the Road to Eliminating HIV-Related Stigma and Discrimination, was co-organized by the regional coordinator of the global partnership, RedTraSex (the Sex Workers Network for Latin America and the Caribbean), the Global Network of People Living with HIV and the Governments of Jamaica and Costa Rica, with the support of UNAIDS.

Five year ago, the 2016 United Nations Political Declaration on Ending AIDS recognized the HIV epidemic as a human rights challenge. Member States expressed concern about HIV-related stigma and discrimination around the world and about the regulatory and legal frameworks that discourage and prevent people from accessing HIV-related services.

The Global Partnership for Action to Eliminate all Forms of HIV-Related Stigma and Discrimination was created in 2017. The initiative has the goal of catalysing and accelerating the implementation of commitments made to end HIV-related stigma and discrimination by United Nations Member States, United Nations agencies, bilateral and international donors, nongovernmental organizations and communities.

Countries have made commitments on ending discrimination in various international conventions, and have made further promises at the regional and national levels. The global partnership supports countries in transforming those promises into reality through policies, programmes and practices that strengthen health and HIV-related rights.

Through the regional coordination of RedTraSex, the global partnership supports an open and ongoing dialogue in the regional civil society networks with the goal of strengthening national coordination platforms and representation, with a focus on people living with, at risk of or affected by HIV.

World leaders agree to reduce the annual number of new HIV infections to under 370 000 and AIDS-related deaths to 250 000, eliminate new HIV infections among children, end paediatric AIDS and eliminate all forms of HIV-related discrimination by 2025. They also committed to providing life-saving HIV treatment to 34 million people by 2025.

NEW YORK, 8 June 2021—United Nations Member States adopted a set of new and ambitious targets in a political declaration at the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AIDS, taking place in New York, United States of America. If the international community reaches the targets, 3.6 million new HIV-infections and 1.7 million AIDS-related deaths will be prevented by 2030.

The political declaration calls on countries to provide 95% of all people at risk of acquiring HIV within all epidemiologically relevant groups, age groups and geographic settings with access to people-centred and effective HIV combination prevention options. It also calls on countries to ensure that 95% of people living with HIV know their HIV status, 95% of people who know their status to be on HIV treatment and 95% of people on HIV treatment to be virally suppressed.

“In this Decade of Action, if we are to deliver the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development all Member States must recommit to ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030,” said Volkan Bozkir, the President of the United Nations General Assembly.

“To end AIDS, we need to end the intersecting injustices that drive new HIV infections and prevent people from accessing services,” said Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations.

The political declaration notes with concern that key populations—gay men and other men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who inject drugs, transgender people and people in prisons and closed settings—are more likely to be exposed to HIV and face violence, stigma, discrimination and laws that restrict their movement or access to services. Member States agreed to a target of ensuring that less than 10% of countries have restrictive legal and policy frameworks that lead to the denial or limitation of access to services by 2025. They also committed to ensure that less than 10% of people living with, at risk of or affected by HIV face stigma and discrimination by 2025, including by leveraging the concept of undetectable = untransmittable (people living with HIV who have achieved viral suppression do not transmit HIV).

“I would like to thank Member States. They have adopted an ambitious political declaration to get the world back on track to ending the AIDS pandemic that has ravaged communities for 40 years,” said Winnie Byanyima, the UNAIDS Executive Director.

Expressing concern at the number of new HIV infections among adolescents, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, a commitment was made to reduce the number of new HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women to below 50 000 by 2025. Member States committed to eliminate all forms of sexual and gender-based violence, including intimate partner violence, by adopting and enforcing laws that address the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence faced by women living with, at risk of and affected by HIV. They pledged to reduce to no more than 10% the number of women, girls and people affected by HIV who experience gender-based inequalities and sexual and gender-based violence by 2025. In addition, commitments were made to ensure that all women can exercise their right to sexuality, including their sexual and reproductive health, free of coercion, discrimination and violence.

Countries were also urged to use national epidemiological data to identify other priority populations who are at higher risk of exposure to HIV, which may include people with disabilities, ethnic and racial minorities, indigenous peoples, local communities, people living in poverty, migrants, refugees, internally displaced people, men and women in uniform and people in humanitarian emergencies and in conflict and post-conflict situations. Countries also committed to ensure that 95% of people living with, at risk of and affected by HIV are protected against pandemics, including COVID-19.

“The stark inequalities exposed by the colliding pandemics of HIV and COVID-19 are a wake-up call for the world to prioritize and invest fully in realizing the human right to health for all without discrimination,” said Ms Byanyima.

Member States also committed to increase and fully fund the AIDS response. They agreed to invest US$ 29 billion annually by 2025 in low- and middle-income countries. This includes investing at least US$ 3.1 billion towards societal enablers, including the protection of human rights, reduction of stigma and discrimination and law reform. They also committed to include peer-led HIV service delivery, including through social contracting and other public funding mechanisms.

Calling for expanding access to the latest technologies for tuberculosis (TB) prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment and vaccination, Member States agreed to ensure that 90% of people living with HIV receive preventive treatment for TB and reduce AIDS-related TB deaths by 80% by 2025. Countries also committed to ensure the global accessibility, availability and affordability of safe, effective and quality-assured medicines, including generics, vaccines, diagnostics and other health technologies to prevent, diagnose and treat HIV infection, its coinfections and other comorbidities through the use of existing flexibilities under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and ensure that intellectual property rights provisions in trade agreements do not undermine the existing flexibilities as outlined in the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health.

“The AIDS response is still leaving millions behind—LGBTI people, sex workers, people who use drugs, migrants and prisoners, teenagers, young people, women and children—who also deserve an ordinary life, with the same rights and dignity enjoyed by most people in this room,” said Yana Panfilova, a woman living with HIV and member of the Global Network of People Living with HIV.

The high-level meeting is being attended in-person and virtually by heads of state and government, ministers and delegates in New York, people living with HIV, civil society organizations, key populations and communities affected by HIV, international organizations, scientists and researchers and the private sector. UNAIDS supported regional consultations and the participation of civil society in the high-level meeting. Civil society organizations called on Member States to adopt a stronger resolution.

“While we have made some significant progress as a global community, we are still missing the mark and people are paying the price with their lives. There’s one single reason we are missing our goal: it’s inequality,” said Charlize Theron, Founder of the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project and a United Nations Messenger of Peace.

Member States also committed to support and leverage the 25 years of experience and expertise of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and committed to fully fund the programme so that it can continue to lead global efforts against AIDS and support efforts for pandemic preparedness and global health.

In accordance with the Global AIDS Strategy 2021–2026: End Inequalities, End AIDS, adopted by consensus on 25 March 2021 by the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board, as well as the report of the United Nations Secretary-General, Addressing Inequalities and Getting Back on Track to End AIDS by 2030, issued on 31 March 2021, UNAIDS would have welcomed even stronger commitments on comprehensive sexuality education, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and sexual orientation and gender identity, unqualified acceptance of evidence-based HIV prevention options, such as harm reduction, a call for the decriminalization of the transmission of HIV, sex work, drug use and laws that criminalize same-sex sexual relationships and further flexibilization of intellectual property rules for access to life-saving medicines, vaccines and technologies.

In 2020, 27.4 million of the 37.6 million people living with HIV were on treatment, up from just 7.8 million in 2010. The roll-out of affordable, quality treatment is estimated to have averted 16.2 million deaths since 2001. AIDS-related deaths have fallen by 43% since 2010, to 690 000 in 2020. Progress in reducing new HIV infections has also been made, but has been markedly slower—a 30% reduction since 2010, with 1.5 million people newly infected with the virus in 2020, compared to 2.1 million in 2010.

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.