Health and development

Young leaders empowered to lead change and hold policymakers accountable for future progress on HIV

Geneva, 15 April 2011—Over 100 young leaders from around the world are meeting in Bamako, Mali, for a three-day Global Youth Summit on HIV. The Summit, hosted by President Amadou Toumani Touré of Mali, is being held to create a new generation of leadership in the global AIDS response.

“Young people must take the leadership of the AIDS response, and they must be given the space to lead,” said President Touré, in the opening plenary of the Summit.

Despite the increase in the number of youth organizations and networks focusing on HIV, young people still face difficulties in influencing decision makers and in becoming engaged as equal partners in the AIDS response.

The Summit has been convened to empower young leaders, including young people living with HIV, to create a sustainable, youth-driven transformation of the AIDS movement. Participants will agree on strategies for young people to lead an HIV prevention revolution. They will also discuss ways of strengthening youth networks and uniting the youth and AIDS movements around the world.

“Today’s young people will assume the mantle for the next decade—ensuring social justice and equity,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). “Young people are defining the future of the global AIDS response and bringing new energy to the AIDS movement.

Participants will develop a Call to Action to empower young people and hold policymakers accountable for future progress on AIDS. This Call to Action will be launched online and will leverage the voices of young people in the lead-up to the United Nations High Level Meeting which is taking place in New York from 8-10 June 2011. “I am ready to take the Call to Action coming out of the Mali Youth Summit on HIV to the High Level Meeting at the United Nations,” said President Touré.

“We are forging a network of young leaders to take ownership of the AIDS response. We are committed to using all available options to advocate for world leaders to redouble their commitment to the AIDS response at the High Level Meeting on AIDS in June," said Eunwoo Kim, co-chair of the steering committee of the Mali Youth Summit on HIV.

In 2009, people aged 15-24 accounted for 41% of new HIV infections among adults. Young women are particularly vulnerable to HIV, accounting for 64% of infections among young people worldwide. Data also show that young people are leading a prevention revolution by adopting safer sexual practices. The rate of new HIV infections in young people has fallen by more than 25% in 15 of the most severely affected countries.

GENEVA, 22 March 2011—UNAIDS expresses concern over reported disruptions in access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support in Côte d’Ivoire. Amid the escalating hostilities across the country, many health care facilities have closed down and essential drugs, including antiretroviral medicines, are in short supply.

“Even in times of political instability, countries and the international community must ensure the continuity of essential health services for all people in need,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. “We know, for example, that interruptions in antiretroviral treatment can have serious health consequences.”

Côte d’Ivoire has the highest HIV prevalence in West Africa, estimated at 3.4% of the adult population. At the end of 2009, more than 72 000 people in the country were receiving antiretroviral treatment.

UNAIDS calls on the international community for solidarity in ensuring the continuity of basic health and AIDS services.

Geneva, 29 January 2010—UNAIDS strongly applauds today’s announcement by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to invest USD 10 billion into research and development of vaccines over the next 10 years.

The announcement, made at the World Economic Forum in Davos, is a welcome step forward in commitment to vaccine research, however large gaps in funding for the research and development of vaccines still remain.

“The best hope for ending the AIDS epidemic lies in a developing a vaccine,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “A vaccine for HIV would save millions of lives and I call on both governments and the private sector to follow this example and scale-up their commitment to this important area of work in health and development.”

The long term response to the AIDS epidemic depends on progress in HIV prevention research and continued funding for scientific research and development. A vaccine for HIV still remains many years away and UNAIDS will continue to advocate to advance the research and development agenda at national, regional and global levels to bring the quest for a vaccine closer.

AMSTERDAM / GENEVA, 8 May 2009 – At an international technical consultation on ‘positive prevention’ convened by the Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+) and UNAIDS on 27-28 April 2009 in Tunisia, experts outlined the ways in which people living with HIV should be central to HIV responses, in particular when and where those response have a direct impact on the lives of people living with HIV. The group agreed on the key elements of comprehensive ‘Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention’ (PHDP) programmes.

More than half of the 50 participants were people living with HIV who lead programmes and drive policies aimed at achieving better HIV responses and higher health and quality of life standards for people living with HIV. Along with development agencies, civil society organizations, country implementers, multilateral and UN agencies, and donor agencies, participants developed a set of values and principles as well as programmatic content and recommendations to guide the national, regional and international efforts of diverse stakeholders.

The experts stressed a human rights approach based on legal protections and a policy environment free of stigma and discrimination. They recommended programmes promote holistic health and wellness, including access to HIV treatment, care and support services, and by doing so contributions are made to the health and wellbeing of their partners, families and communities. Additionally, it was recommended that PHDP efforts should be responsive to the needs of key populations.

Kevin Moody, the International Coordinator and CEO of GNP+, stated, “To date, many positive prevention programmes have placed an undue burden of responsibility for HIV transmission on HIV positive people. The technical consultation was an opportunity to collectively frame policies and programmes within a human rights perspective and to shift the focus of preventing HIV transmission to a shared responsibility of all individuals irrespective of HIV status”.

Michael Bartos, Team Leader of the HIV prevention, care and support team at UNAIDS, added, “At the technical consultation, we learnt about work happening in many communities where people living with HIV are leading the design, programming, implementation, research, monitoring and evaluation of HIV programmes, including prevention programmes. Crucially, in coining the term ’Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention’, the group overcame the divide between HIV prevention and programmes that aim to improve the wellbeing of people living with HIV”.

The international technical consultation is part of an ongoing process of defining the role of HIV-positive people in PHDP. Further consultations at regional and national levels and with different key populations are planned to establish a common understanding of PHDP and provide guidance in developing policies and programmes globally.

A meeting report and a full set of values, principles, programmatic content and recommendations will be made public in early July 2009.

The Global Network of People living with HIV (GNP+) is a global network for and by people living with HIV. GNP+ advocates to improve the quality of life of people living with HIV. The central theme for the work of GNP+ is Reclaiming Our Lives! GNP+ programs are organized under four platforms of action: Empowerment; HIV Prevention; Human Rights; and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. For more information, please visit www.gnpplus.net  

UNAIDS is an innovative joint venture of the United Nations, bringing together the efforts and resources of the UNAIDS Secretariat and ten UN system organizations in the AIDS response. The Secretariat headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland—with staff on the ground in more than 80 countries. The Cosponsors include UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank. Contributing to achieving global commitments to universal access to comprehensive interventions for HIV prevention, treatment, care and support is the number one priority for UNAIDS. Visit the UNAIDS website at www.unaids.org