Resources and funding

Business leaders have met to explore how more and better action by business can be mobilized for the AIDS response, in alignment with the work of governments, civil society and donors.

In the opening remarks, Simon Bland, Director of the UNAIDS New York Liaison Office, highlighted the recognition by United Nations Member States of the importance of the private sector in helping to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but that this was sometimes narrowly focused on finance. We know that the private sector can bring much more to the table through their networks, management expertise, supply chains and innovations. There is a growing recognition of the need to move beyond philanthropy and corporate social responsibility to embedding SDG investments within core business operations.

Jane Nelson, Director of the Corporate Responsibility Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School, shared her insights on the role of companies in expanding economic opportunity and their ongoing journey in the past 20 years, moving from philanthropy to corporate social responsibility to integration into business functions, innovation, supply chain resilience, disclosure and governance.

The ensuing discussion with executives of three leading companies delved into the solutions to ending the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030 and how collaboration could generate additional impact across the work of their businesses, governments, civil society and donors.

The event, held on 16 July during the ministerial segment of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, in New York, United States of America, was convened by UNAIDS.

GENEVA, 27 June 2018—UNAIDS welcomes the announcement by the Government of Australia confirming an additional AUD 1.3 million (almost US$ 1 million) for the AIDS response. The additional funding, announced at the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board meeting on 26 June 2018, will be used to scale up HIV prevention in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Papua New Guinea. The funds will add to the AUD 4.5 million (US$ 3.3 million) annual contribution to UNAIDS that Australia has pledged for the next five years.

“Australia is a leading advocate in the AIDS response in Asia and the Pacific,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “This additional contribution is an important signal at a time when we need more energy and action in HIV prevention to ensure that everyone, particularly people at higher risk of HIV, can protect themselves against the virus.”

In 2016, around 5.1 million adults and children were estimated to be living with HIV in the Asia–Pacific region, some 270 000 people became newly infected with the virus and 170 000 people died of AIDS-related illnesses. Just under half (47%) of all people living with HIV in the Asia–Pacific region had access to antiretroviral therapy in 2016.

Fully funding the work of the UNAIDS Joint Programme is critical to ending the AIDS epidemic and achieving UNAIDS’ vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths.

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 has launched a revamped transparency portal, open.unaids.org, which presents current data on how UNAIDS is working to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

The portal features joint results, country-level information, financial reporting, donor contributions, indicator trends and detailed information on the achievements of the UNAIDS Cosponsors.

“This portal is part of our collective efforts to ensure that we strengthen our transparency, accountability and communications around how we work and what we achieve. It provides Member States, donors, partners and staff alike with an excellent and highly accessible resource,” says Gunilla Carlsson, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director.

The UNAIDS transparency portal for the first time presents how UNAIDS is working with the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI). UNAIDS became an IATI publisher in late 2016 and since then has regularly been publishing the details of financial and programme information in a standardized format in the IATI registry.

UNAIDS’ commitment to being open and accountable has been demonstrated by efforts to share programmatic and financial data with the public since 2014, when the initial transparency portal was launched at UNAIDS’ first financing dialogue. Since then, the portal has presented all information on performance and financial reporting shared with the Programme Coordinating Board annually. Adoption of the IATI standard—a format and framework for publishing data—has been another important step in ensuring that data are accessible and available to all.

The portal can be accessed at https://open.unaids.org/.

GENEVA, 19 June 2018—UNAIDS expresses its sincere appreciation to Denmark for its long-standing support and welcomes its decision to increase its core contributions to UNAIDS. Denmark will increase its contribution to UNAIDS to US$ 6.5 million in 2018 (from 30 million kroner in 2017 to 40 million kroner in 2018). 

“UNAIDS is stepping up its work on achieving gender equality, stopping gender-based violence and fulfilling the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls, all of which are critical to ending AIDS,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “This important increase in Denmark’s contributions to UNAIDS will significantly help advance our shared commitment to put women at the centre of the response to HIV.”  

Denmark is one of the leading donors to UNAIDS and is championing efforts towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. By supporting UNAIDS’ work in countries to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030, Denmark is continuing to advance progress in achieving a healthier and more equitable future for all.

“UNAIDS is paramount to ending AIDS as a global health threat, with its strong advocacy role and high standard on data collection and dissemination,” said Ulla Tørnæs, Danish Minister for Development Cooperation. “Denmark’s increased support for UNAIDS goes hand in hand with our strong emphasis on human rights and gender equality, including the advancement of sexual and reproductive health and rights for all, as core to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.”

Fully funding the work of the UNAIDS Joint Programme is critical to ending the AIDS epidemic and achieving UNAIDS’ vision of zero new HIV infections, zero AIDS-related deaths and zero discrimination.

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.

The Government of Luxembourg has announced that it will renewal its €1 million contribution to UNAIDS for the western and central Africa catch-up plan, with the funds focused on paediatric care and treatment and human rights. Launched in December 2016, the western and central Africa catch-up plan aims to ensure that 4.5 million people living with HIV in the region will have access to HIV treatment by 2020.

Marc Angel, Chair of the Foreign Affairs and Development Committee in the Luxembourg Parliament and UNAIDS Champion for the 90–90–90 Targets, recently undertook a three-day visit to Burkina Faso, a beneficiary of last year’s contribution. Mr Angel met with leaders from the government and civil society organizations and witnessed first-hand the successes and challenges of Burkina’s AIDS response.

“I’m impressed by what I have seen, and I believe Burkina Faso is on track for achieving 90–90–90 and for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. I encourage the government, civil society, community-based associations and other actors to do more to reach the last mile, so that AIDS is no longer a public health threat,” said Mr Angel.

GENEVA, 17 May 2018—On HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, 18 May, UNAIDS is calling for an increase in research and investment to find an effective vaccine to protect people against HIV and stop new HIV infections. In 2016, around 1.8 million people were newly infected with HIV and although the number of new infections has declined in recent years, the world is still far from achieving the UNAIDS Fast-Track Target of reducing new HIV infections to fewer than 500 000 by 2020.

“New HIV infections are not declining fast enough and stopping infections must become a global priority,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “There are 36.7 million people living with HIV today, all in need of costly treatment for life, which will be difficult to sustain over the long term. To truly end AIDS, it is essential to find an effective HIV vaccine and a cure.” 

In mid-2017, more than half (20.9 million) of the 36.7 million people living with HIV had access to antiretroviral medicines to keep them alive and well. Over the next decade, efforts will be scaled up so that all people living with HIV can access the life-saving treatment. Without a cure or a therapeutic vaccine, millions of people will need to be sustained on lifelong treatment.

Promising steps have been made in recent years, with four large-scale trials currently under way and exciting developments in the pipeline. Innovative approaches to immunization are showing great promise in animal models and an ever-increasing array of highly potent broadly neutralizing antibodies have been discovered and can be engineered to persist in the human body so that we may one day be able to prevent HIV infection with a single injection each year.

Safe and effective vaccines have the potential to change the world. Some infectious diseases that were once commonplace, killing millions and leaving countless people with lifelong disabilities, have become rare. Smallpox has been eradicated, only 17 people developed polio in 2017 and in 2016 the Pan American Health Organization declared that measles had been eliminated from the Americas.

An effective, durable, affordable and safe vaccine for HIV would significantly advance efforts to end AIDS. For the past decade, investments have remained steady, at around US$ 900 million per year, which is less than 5% of the total resources needed for the AIDS response. By scaling up investments in HIV vaccine research, diversifying funding and attracting the best scientists from around the world, a vaccine for HIV could become a reality.

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.

A decade of progress has inspired the once unthinkable—that the AIDS epidemic can be ended as a public health threat. A decade of transformation has set the stage, and the global community is united behind the goal of ending AIDS by 2030.

Progress in eastern and southern Africa, the world’s most affected region, is driving global optimism. In the region, the number of people living with HIV on antiretroviral therapy has more than doubled since 2010, reaching almost 12.5 million people by June 2017. New HIV infections in eastern and southern Africa have declined by a third in just six years, while AIDS-related deaths in the region plummeted by 42% over the same period.

A new report released by UNAIDS shows that ending the AIDS epidemic in Africa can be reached if investments are secured and plans are in place for long-term sustainability.

The report, Turning point for Africa: An historic opportunity to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 and launch a new era of sustainability recommends developing country-tailored sustainability plans to enable transition towards domestic ownership and financing at each country’s own pace. It also highlights that sustainable progress will require changing policies, increasing human resources for health, increasing efficiencies and addressing systemic inequalities.

The Executive Director of UNAIDS Michel Sidibé presented the new report to African Ministers of Finance, multilateral partners and other senior officials at a meeting on optimizing investments and partnerships to end AIDS in Africa organized by the United States Department of Treasury and the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

“We get a remarkable return from investments in HIV programmes—increased life expectancy, stronger economic productivity, and decreasing health care costs over time as people stay healthy,” said Mr Sidibé. “Governments have set ambitious goals and we are closer than ever before to success. We have broken the epidemic’s trajectory. PEPFAR and Global Fund have driven this progress under the leadership of your governments.  We can all take pride in what has been achieved.”

The report shows that by adopting UNAIDS Fast-Track Targets instead of continuing business as usual, more than 15 million new HIV infections can be averted and more than 5 million lives saved. Moreover, it will avert US$ 4.7 billion of financial resources needed for treatment in sub-Saharan Africa 2017–2030, from which eastern and southern Africa accounts for US$ 1.7 billion and western and central Africa US$ 3 billion.

In opening remarks, Eric Meyer, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Africa and the Middle East, United States Treasury, underscored the importance of health investments to the productivity of national workforces, long-term strength of economies and the ability of Ministers of Finance to reach their goals for economic growth.

Deborah Birx, United States Global AIDS Coordinator and Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy, briefed on progress and gaps in the HIV response and the tremendous progress towards epidemic control in many countries.

Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, focused on the need to for efficiency and effectiveness and focused programming.  “We have the very real prospect of being able to end the epidemic—control it effectively—we know what to do.  But it does require more investment in a sustained and highly coordinated fashion.”

The meeting was held in Washington, DC, United States of America, on 19 April, during the annual World Bank Spring Meetings, which bring together finance and development officials, private sector executives and civil society from around the world to discuss issues of global concern.