United States of America

WASHINGTON D.C./GENEVA, 1 December 2023—UNAIDS, in partnership with the Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy at the US Department of State and Members of US Congress, co-hosted a Congressional Commemoration and Ministerial Roundtable for the 35^th World AIDS Day. The event featured bipartisan Members of US Congress who pledged continued support for the reauthorization of PEPFAR, and HIV, health and development leaders, including African Ministers of Health, who recommitted to sustain progress to end AIDS.

“We have to reauthorize PEPFAR. Success must continue,” said Senator Bill Cassidy. “The challenge before us is to continue to use the science and programmatic change to reach new at-risk populations, like mothers and babies. Our goal is to end AIDS, but it is going to be one population at a time.”

Congresswoman Barbara Lee called for a renewed bipartisan effort to reauthorize PEPFAR. “We have the opportunity to see an AIDS-free generation by 2030 and we have to do everything we can do to get there. I continue to work with my Republican colleagues every day to extend PEPFAR on a bipartisan basis. The well-being of millions of people in Africa are on the line.”

Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Leader of the US House of Representatives, said, “PEPFAR is the perfect example of a life-saving, life-preserving, life-changing program. You have our commitment as the House Democrats that we will continue to work with President Biden and our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to make sure that we secure a robust, strong, lengthy reauthorization of PEPFAR.”

Other esteemed Members of Congress who addressed the event included Representative Michael Lawler, Representative Sara Jacobs, and Representative Ami Bera. They cited powerful country examples of PEPFAR’s success and committed continued bipartisan support for the reauthorization of PEPFAR, demonstrating the importance of US Congressional leadership in the global HIV response.

“PEPFAR has become the gold standard for humanity,” said John Nkengasong, Ambassador-at-Large, US Global AIDS Coordinator and Senior Bureau Official for Global Health Security and Diplomacy at the US Department of State. “We need joint responsibility and joint accountability to end AIDS by 2030. I am hopeful the US Congress will secure a clean, five-year reauthorization of PEPFAR, which will enable us end AIDS.”

“PEPFAR is an illustration of the compassion and leadership of the American people - comparable to the Marshall Plan,” said Achim Steiner, Administrator of UNDP, and UNAIDS Cosponsor. “The multisectoral approach of the global HIV response has been instrumental in helping communities lead and build resilience.”

Global leaders highlighted the life-saving impact of PEPFAR’s contributions. Martha Cameron, Executive Director of the International Community of Women Living with HIV, North America, shared her story. “Had it not been for PEPFAR, I would not be here today. I was on my death bed in Zambia and was told I had very little time to live. I was one of those first recipients. Representing my community of faith-based organizations, I hope that PEPFAR will be reauthorized.”

“Global progress on HIV has been breathtaking, but the job is not yet done,” said Angeli Achrekar, Deputy Executive Director, Programme, UNAIDS. “We must continue our efforts to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 and sustain these gains into the future.”

Faith-based organizations have been at the forefront of the HIV response. “Working in Zambia before PEPFAR started, I remember losing friends on a weekly basis,” said Shannon Senefeld, Senior Vice President of Catholic Relief Services. “The programming implemented under PEPFAR has been pro-life. I am hard pressed to think of another example of such a life-affirming program that has been implemented by the US Government.”

The event included a high-level roundtable of leaders from across Africa, highlighting the life-saving impact of PEPFAR on progress in national HIV responses and across the African continent. “We acknowledge the remarkable leadership and collaboration between the African Union Commission, the US Congress, UNAIDS, the Global Fund and others working together to combat HIV/AIDS,” said Monique Nsanzabaganwa, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission. “The African Union welcomes 20 years of US leadership in the fight against AIDS. Let me request that we finish this fight together and we continue this partnership in the next years, leading to 2030 and beyond.”

“In 2003, before PEPFAR was operational, less than 1 000 people in Tanzania were on antiretroviral therapy. Today more than 1.5 million Tanzanians are receiving this life-saving treatment for HIV, mainly because of the support we are getting from PEFPAR,” said Ummy Ally Mwalimu, Minister of Health of Tanzania. “Our appeal to the US Congress is to reauthorize PEPFAR in order to sustain the gains we have achieved.”

“We have the biggest burden of HIV and tuberculosis in the Continent and also in the world,” said Joseph Phaahla, Minister of Health of South Africa. “The partnership and support provided made it possible to roll out 5.8 million people on HIV treatment. We could not achieve this progress without the support of US Congress and ordinary American people. But the coverage of children remains a challenge which we need to close.”

“We acknowledge the support and partnership with PEPFAR, UNAIDS and the Global Fund,” said Armindo Daniel Tiago, Minister of Health of Mozambique. “We have reached the milestone of 2 million people receiving HIV treatment. We rely on the ongoing support of the US Congress, through PEPFAR, to achieve our targets and secure sustainability of the HIV response.” 

The full event can be viewed online at: World AIDS Day Congressional Commemoration and Ministerial Roundtable - YouTube

PEPFAR’s latest program results (December 2023) demonstrate the life-saving impact of the program, including:  

• Life-saving antiretroviral treatment for 20.47 million men, women, and children
• 1.95 million people to newly enrolled in PrEP to prevent HIV infection
• 327,000 health workers supported to deliver quality HIV-related prevention, treatment and supportive services, and
• 32.5 million men who received voluntary medical male circumcisions to help prevent new HIV infections since 2007.

UNAIDS latest global HIV data indicates that at the end of 2022 an estimated:

• 39.0 million people globally were living with HIV
• 29.8 million people were accessing antiretroviral therapy
• 1.3 million people became newly infected with HIV
• 630 000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses

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.

PEPFAR

The Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State leads, manages, and oversees the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Through PEPFAR, the U.S. government has invested over $110 billion in the global HIV/AIDS response, the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history, saving over 25 million lives, preventing millions of HIV infections, and accelerating progress toward controlling the global HIV/AIDS pandemic in more than 50 countries.

UNAIDS is deeply saddened at the death of Paul Farmer

GENEVA, 11 March 2022—UNAIDS is deeply saddened at the death of Paul Farmer, anthropologist, doctor and global health champion. He was Kolokotrones University Professor and Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Chief of the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and co-founder of Partners in Health.

“Paul Farmer fought for social justice and human rights and passionately believed in the right to health for all,” said Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of UNAIDS. “His work saved millions and showed us the way to reach health care with dignity.”

Partners in Health, a social justice organization founded more than three decades ago, establishes long-term relationships with sister organizations based in settings of poverty. Its main goal is to bring the benefits of modern medical science to those most in need.

In 2000, Mr Farmer and colleagues proved that community-based approaches to HIV treatment in poor settings worked. In 2000, an estimated 4.7 to 8.9 million African children aged 0–17 years had lost one or both parents due to AIDS and HIV had become the world’s leading infectious cause of death among adults with more than 90% of those deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. Many had argued that the high cost of antiretroviral medicines (more than US$ 10 000 annually) and the lack of health infrastructure would mean that progress against AIDS would be impossible, but Mr Farmer and his team proved them wrong. His pilot HIV treatment programme in a poor community in rural Haiti that relied on an existing tuberculosis-control infrastructure showed that positive results could be made among people with advanced HIV. 

Mr Farmer also advocated that HIV treatment could reinvigorate HIV prevention programmes and argued that, from his experience in Haiti and Rwanda, the rollout of effective antiretroviral therapy lessened HIV-related stigma and discrimination. 

In 2012, Mr Farmer and his team celebrated the fact that almost 10 million people living in low- and middle-income countries were on antiretroviral therapy. Later, he focused on people dying of hepatitis C, like HIV a treatable and preventable disease, and regretted that at the time of his death nearly 10 million people living with HIV still did not have access to treatment.  

In late November 2021, Mr Farmer joined a virtual UNAIDS panel ahead of World AIDS Day. He stressed that all human lives have the same value and that everyone has the inalienable right to be healthy and to fulfil their potential. Drawing parallels between COVID-19 and HIV, he said, “Inequality is a major driver of pandemics in general. As with AIDS as with structural racism, gender inequality and various forms of social marginalization, active processes continue to structure risk for COVID-19 and also for the fruits of science that have been marshalled to fight it.”

UNAIDS is saddened by the death of Prof Paul Farmer, a passionate advocate for HIV treatment, who showed the world that AIDS-related deaths can be reversed with access, rights & compassion. The global health community has lost a pioneering leader, but his work will continue on. pic.twitter.com/UVS7JP8xuj

— UNAIDS (@UNAIDS) February 21, 2022

He added, “We are now living in a time of vaccine apartheid ... were we to have had a vaccine for HIV, it would be a similar challenge. So, it is, in fact, not two different pandemics posing two discreet sets of challenges but two colliding pandemics.”

As Mr Farmer repeated over and over again during his life, it is our collective duty to take the steps needed to tackle inequalities. UNAIDS, in its 2021 World AIDS Day report, Unequal, unprepared, under threat: why bold action against inequalities is needed to end AIDS, stop COVID-19 and prepare for future pandemics, warned that if the transformative measures needed to end AIDS are not taken, the world will also stay trapped in the COVID-19 crisis and remain dangerously unprepared for the pandemics to come.

Partners in Health has organized an online memorial service at 10:00–12:00 Eastern Time (16:00–18:00 Central European Time) on 12 March 2022 to honour his work.

The United States Food and Drug Administration announced its first approval of a long-acting HIV prevention medication earlier this week. The long-acting injectable cabotegravir (CAB - LA) is approved as a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for adults and adolescents who are at risk of acquiring HIV sexually in the United States of America.

This is the first time an injectable antiretroviral drug becomes available as a pre-exposure prophylaxis for prevention of HIV. The long-acting formula is a step forward and a valuable addition to the HIV prevention toolbox and will make acceptance and adherence easy.

A long-acting PrEP product such as CAB-LA, taken initially as two injections one month apart and then after every two months afterward, could offer a better choice for adults and adolescents at substantial HIV risk who either do not want to take or struggle with taking a daily tablet. Companies holding new technologies should share their knowledge and recipes with generic producers to ensure availability and affordability in low and middle-income countries.

UNAIDS is calling for this new drug to quickly be made available and affordable to people who need it most not just in the United States of America but everywhere in the world. The mistakes of three decades ago when lifesaving drugs were only available to those who could afford it must not be repeated. Market strategies such as generic competition and public health-oriented management of intellectual property rights, either through voluntary agreements or the use of TRIPS flexibilities must be used to make this new drug widely available.

To make this drug available equitably across the world, a series of actions are essential. Firstly, the drug has to be approved by regional and national regulatory authorities in a speedy manner. It is encouraging to see that the developer of CAB-LA, has already submitted to the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) for approval and an outcome is expected in early 2022. However access must go much further. Secondly the selling price must come down through a combination of measures such as licencing and involvement of generic producers. Thirdly, national HIV prevention programmes must prepare roll out plans and prepare their health systems and communitiues to deploy this new HIV prevention option as soon as they are available.

Current pre-exposure prohylaxis--Tenofovir plus Emtricitabine—tablets have to be taken daily as oral PrEP. They are highly effective in preventing HIV acquisition among persons at substantial risk when taken as prescribed. However many find it challenging to take a daily tablet. Another option—dapiviringe vaginal ring—is becoming available as additional prevention option for women at substantial risk of HIV infection.

The CAB-LA option could be a game-changer for the HIV response, making PrEP simpler or less burdensome for all genders. This may also circumvent the stigma associated with daily oral therapy and improve correct dosing and adherence which is critical for PrEP effectiveness.

This week’s United States Food and Drug Administration approval follows results from two trials. The first trial, HPTN 083, was conducted in 4 566 gay men and men who have sex with men and transgender women at research centers in Argentina, Brazil, Peru, the United States, South Africa, Thailand, and Vietnam. CAB – LA reduced the risk of sexually acquired HIV by 66% compared to daily oral. In the second trial HPTN 084, among 3,223 at-risk women aged 18-45 across 20 trial sites in seven countries in Sub Saharan Africa (Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe), CAB – LA reduced the risk of acquiring HIV by 89% compared to daily oral PrEP. 

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.

HIV service disparities by race have been documented in several parts of the developed world.

In the United States of America, black people account for a disproportionately large percentage of new HIV infections in the country: 41% in 2019, although they represent only about 13% of the national population. This is in part due to lower coverage of HIV prevention services. Just 8% of black Americans and 14% of Hispanics/Latinos who were eligible for pre-exposure prophylaxis were prescribed it, compared to 63% of whites.

Studies also report significant racial disparities in HIV treatment outcomes, with delayed initiation of treatment and care, lower adherence to antiretroviral therapy, increased stigma and discrimination, mistrust of or lack of access to health-care providers and inadequate access to health insurance among the contributing factors. Many of these gaps are among black and Latino gay men and other men who have sex with men, who must contend with both racial inequalities and homophobia.

GENEVA, 3 February 2021—UNAIDS warmly welcomes the announcement by the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, that he has rescinded the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance Policy (PLGHA, previously known as the Mexico City Policy). The policy required foreign nongovernmental organizations to certify that they would not perform or actively promote abortion using funds from any source (including non-United States funds) as a condition of receiving United States Government funding.

“Rescinding the PLGHA is a strong demonstration of the new United States Administration’s commitment to supporting women to claim their rights and to access sexual and reproductive health and rights information and services,” said Winnie Byanyima, UNAIDS Executive Director. “We look forward to working closely with the new United States Administration to ensure that all women and girls can exercise their human rights and get the sexual and reproductive health information and services they want and need.”

The former United States Administration took previous restrictions established by the Mexico City Policy to a new level by applying the policy to global health assistance provided by all executive departments and agencies. This severely limited access to critical sexual and reproductive health-care services and stifled local advocacy efforts, in turn undermining human rights in general and sexual and reproductive health and rights in particular worldwide.

UNAIDS welcomes the White House’s call to waive conditions related to the PLGHA in any current grants with immediate effect, to notify current grantees, as soon as possible, that these conditions have been waived and to cease imposing these conditions in any future assistance awards.

“Women and girls having full access to their sexual and reproductive health and rights is closely connected to their overall safety, health and well-being. We hope that this will inform the passage of the Global Health, Empowerment and Rights Act—legislation designed to permanently repeal the PLGHA,” added Ms Byanyima.

UNAIDS also warmly welcomes the announcement by the President that the United States will restore funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), a key UNAIDS cosponsoring organization working around the world to provide reproductive health care for women and young people. UNAIDS appreciates the commitment by the United States Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, to appropriate US$ 32.5 million in support for UNFPA this year.

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.

GENEVA, 10 November 2020—UNAIDS congratulates President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on the recent election results in the United States of America.

“UNAIDS looks forward to working with the new United States administration on the challenge of ending AIDS, for which there is still no vaccine and no cure,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “The colliding pandemics of COVID-19 and HIV are evidence that global solidarity and shared responsibility is needed now more than ever before to ensure that no one is left behind and that medicines, services and solutions can be accessed equitably.”

In 2019, around 1.7 million people became infected with HIV and 690 000 people died of AIDS-related illnesses. UNAIDS and the United States Government have collaborated closely since the inception of UNAIDS in 1996, to accelerate progress towards global HIV prevention and treatment targets in the countries most affected by HIV.

Through the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the United States Government has invested more than US$ 85 billion in the global response to HIV, the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease. Strong bipartisan support for investments to end AIDS across successive administrations and effective, data-driven and evidence-informed HIV programming through PEPFAR and investments to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, have enabled millions of men, women and children to live longer, healthier lives.

To ensure continued success towards ending AIDS, concerted, strategic efforts in the months and years ahead will be needed, especially at a moment when COVID-19 threatens the health of people all around the world. To end these dual pandemics UNAIDS looks forward to continuing to work closely with the United States for a safer, healthier world.

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.

As the world faces the colliding pandemics of COVID-19, HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, UNAIDS supports the call for bold, bipartisan support by the United States of America for global efforts against these concurrent health challenges

GENEVA, 31 July 2020—The United States of America has long led the world in its response to infectious pandemics. As the largest bilateral donor to the global response to HIV, investing more than US$ 85 billion in the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) since 2003, the United States, working with multilateral organizations, the United Nations, civil society and affected countries, has played a pivotal role in reducing new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths. The United States has contributed generously to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund), investing US$ 16.7 billion since 2002.

Collectively, these investments have saved millions of lives, particularly on the African continent. Yet, as UNAIDS’ latest global report shows, much work remains. Of the 38 million people living with HIV, 12.6 million are not accessing life-saving treatment. Prior to COVID-19, we were off track on our goal of fewer than 500 000 new HIV infections by 2020; in 2019, 1.7 million people became newly infected with HIV. COVID-19’s early impact on the African continent portends a major health disaster that, if unmitigated, will have both direct and long-term residual effects.

At a time when many governments and economies, particularly in Africa, are reeling from COVID-19 and struggling to maintain health and social services, continued leadership by the United States in global health is essential—it could be the difference between a health challenge and a health catastrophe.

With the world now facing colliding pandemics, turning away from any one of them to focus solely on any of the others risks a surge in new infections and deaths. The exponential harm of several concurrent pandemics will bring unprecedented suffering and economic fallout. The coronavirus’ effect on AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria programming will be devastating if not buffered. In June, the Global Fund reported that 85% of the programmes it supports in 106 countries struggled with disruption to service delivery, including 18% with high or very high disruptions. UNAIDS estimates that a six-month complete disruption in treatment could cause more than 500 000 additional deaths in sub-Saharan Africa over the coming year, bringing the region back to 2008 AIDS mortality levels. Even a 20% disruption could cause an additional 110 000 deaths. Such an outcome would represent unacceptable and preventable collateral damage from the COVID-19 pandemic, wiping out nearly two decades of progress.

The United States Global Leadership Coalition is calling on Congress to allocate US$ 20 billion in the next Emergency Supplemental Funding Bill for COVID-19. The global health community supports this request and calls for including an explicit allocation of US$ 700 million for one year, or US$ 1.4 billion over two years, for bilateral global HIV and tuberculosis programmes under PEPFAR and US$ 4 billion over two years for the Global Fund’s COVID-19 Response Mechanism. These funds will offset the impact of COVID-19 on PEPFAR and Global Fund programmes while supporting PEPFAR’s and the Global Fund’s work to combat COVID-19, including through increasing testing and care. The Global Fund’s currently available resources for COVID-19 will be fully depleted in weeks. The need is urgent.

The spread of COVID-19 is accelerating across Africa; its impact is increasingly concerning. The surge in patients is overpowering caregivers and hospitals. Recent reports suggest that more than 10 000 health-care workers have been infected. While accurately reporting cases of COVID-19 is challenging given limited testing, South Africa has more than 452 000 confirmed cases, making it the country with the fifth highest number of cases in the world. This has put enormous additional pressure on inpatient and outpatient capacities already burdened to the breaking point with HIV, tuberculosis, noncommunicable diseases, maternal and child health issues and trauma. The health systems, hospitals and health-care professionals are struggling to cope. The estimated 17 000 excess deaths from natural causes from 6 May to 14 July 2020 indicate the impact of the compounded burden. Provinces and districts previously facing pre-existing health system issues are the hardest hit; they lack functional bed capacity and adequate oxygen supply.

South Africa is not alone. In the week leading to 20 July 2020, new COVID-19 cases in Kenya increased by 31%, and by 50%, 57% and 69%, respectively, in Madagascar, Zambia and Namibia. Many low-income countries with a high HIV burden are making sacrifices in the fight against COVID-19, but they are losing the battle. Many of their economies are undermined by COVID-19. Government receipts have shrunk and many of them also face considerable debt service burdens. In four out of five of the countries with the highest HIV prevalence (Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa), the ratio of debt to gross domestic product is greater than 40%, with South Africa predicted to reach a record high of 80% in 2020 due to declining consumption and investments during the COVID-19 crisis.

 The global health community’s requests for additional funding reflect needs in three areas:

• Scaling up health-care workforces to offset task-sharing/task-shifting due to COVID-19.
• Ensuring a supply of personal protective equipment and training on the safe use of, and proper disposal of, personal protective equipment for health-care workers.
• Protecting continuity of HIV, tuberculosis, malaria and other priority services (including laboratories and diagnostic efforts) and responding to cost escalations due to COVID-19. 

COVID-19 presents not only challenges but also opportunities for even greater progress against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, three of the world’s most pernicious killers. For example, as COVID-19 keeps people living with HIV from safely accessing HIV clinics, reports from 87 countries in which UNAIDS operates indicate that 44 of them have implemented policies to enable multimonth dispensing of antiretroviral medicines, a necessary innovation that ensures continuity of care, essential for viral load suppression, and cost savings, for HIV. Similarly, COVID-19 has disrupted clinic-based services for people who use drugs while catalysing innovative and effective service delivery models, such as “take home” approaches to opioid substitution therapy, approaches that should become the new normal.

PEPFAR, the Global Fund and UNAIDS are helping to utilize the infrastructure developed through the HIV response to contribute to effective COVID-19 efforts. For example, newly credentialed personnel—including more than 280 000 new health-care workers trained by PEPFAR—are now first responders to COVID-19. Reports from countries as diverse as India, Senegal and Uganda illustrate the essential support delivered by HIV community workers, who go door-to-door in lockdowns, distributing HIV prevention materials, treatment and information on how people can protect themselves from COVID-19 and access testing. COVID-19 responses in many countries are also benefiting from laboratory systems that have been vastly improved and expanded as a result of HIV investments.

The work of PEPFAR, the Global Fund and UNAIDS is interdependent and tightly coordinated; the three entities bolster the others’ success in all countries in which we operate. Working in concert, we have been highly effective in helping the United States Government achieve its goal of saving the most lives in the shortest window of time. Now is the time to protect past investments by exercising global leadership in the fight against COVID-19. Doing so will have the added benefits of protecting Americans at home.

“UNAIDS appreciates that COVID-19 is having a disproportionate impact on the American people. However, as we have learned from HIV, no one is safe from a virus, which knows no borders, or political divides, until all are safe. No pandemic can be stopped without global solidarity. Working together will help to accelerate the safety of the whole world. We count on the United States to build on decades of leadership in global health, maximizing and protecting impacts made to date on HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, by strongly supporting efforts against COVID-19,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS.

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.

In the 15 years since I went public with my diagnosis of HIV, it remains daunting to stand in front of a new audience and share my story. Though I expect them, I have never quite gotten used to the disbelief and shock I see in people’s eyes, the jaws gone slack, the overwhelming empathy. Because we have come such a long way in the journey against HIV, my story now is a happy one, meant to inspire people to know more, do more, support more so we can reach all those who still need access to prevention, testing, treatment. I do what I do because I hope others will feel more comfortable getting tested and treated for HIV if they see someone who has been healed, who is still embraced by their family, friends, colleagues and community.

And yet, while I have done it many times, and it’s a story with a positive bent, each time I share it publicly my heart pounds and my mouth runs dry. Early in my days of disclosure, a friend suggested I look for a smiling face in the crowd, someone who looked strong and positive, so I could absorb their energy and stay calm and upbeat even as I was full of fear.

Recently, the Atlantic invited me to a talk for World AIDS Day in Washington, DC, and I was particularly nervous. Having been at UNAIDS for nearly six years at the time, I was out of practice having my personal journey with HIV be the focus of my work. I knew a lot of people in the audience, professionally, but not personally. As I took the stage, I found myself shaking. I sat down, straightened the creases in my pants and scanned the room hoping for an encouraging looking face.

And then I saw Maeve. She smiled that radiant, confident smile that could say so many different things, as needed, in any moment. She seemed to understand that this was different, that it was personal, and that I was afraid. She nodded. And just like that, I was fine. I took a deep breath and told a room full of strangers and professional colleagues about what it’s like to live with HIV, to face the fear of death, the stigma, the treatment, the guilt that you have survived and others have not.

These last days, mourning her loss, I remembered a conversation I had with Maeve about the idea of survivor guilt. She pointed out that those of us who work daily to protect and extend the lives of others shouldn’t feel guilty, but rather, responsible—it was an idea that came from the AIDS community. I loved that idea. Survivor guilt became survivor responsibility to me because of Maeve.

Maeve’s amazing contributions to social justice, to global health, to policies that made people’s lives safer, longer, happier and healthier are multitudinous. A public health and human rights lawyer, Maeve’s deep commitment to immigrants, refugees, women and children, including issues of violence, and rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people, was rarely matched. She inspired so many of us and served as a role model in myriad ways. Many words have been said about her contributions by many who knew her longer or better than I did. But perhaps because I knew her less well, and yet felt that she was there deeply, personally, profoundly for me when she could sense I needed it, several times, I can uniquely appreciate some of Maeve’s finest qualities. She had an almost extrasensory perception of what was needed, especially in delicate moments. She shared her strength, her courage, and in doing so, made difficult things seem possible, doable.

From Capitol Hill in the United States of America, where she worked for Senator Dianne Feinstein, to the Peace Corps in Mozambique, where she was a volunteer, to the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, where she served in various roles for President Barack Obama, Maeve’s ability to advance social justice was remarkable. Her lifelong commitment to public service was infused with her effervescent spirit, her indefatigable energy and that famous smile, capable of lighting up a whole room and lifting your heart.

It is difficult to describe the loss one feels when someone like Maeve leaves us. The world hardly makes sense. Why would someone so talented, so helpful, so selfless, so beautiful in every sense be taken so early? It raises all kinds of existential questions. And creates a new type of survivor guilt in those of us who were not taken instead. But remembering that conversation I had with Maeve and, in her honour, instead of being sad, I will recommit myself to the work with an even deeper sense of responsibility to carry on, to continue to try to extend the kinds of elemental forces for good she so often instigated.

A granddaughter of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy and grandniece of former President John F. Kennedy, Maeve embodied the best qualities of a global humanitarian. The effects of her efforts will be felt for generations to come. It will take many of us working together to fill the gaps left by Maeve. But she lives on through and in us. I know I, for one, whenever I think something is too hard, or too daunting, will conjure her smile, see her nod and simply get on with it, as I know she would do.

Maeve worked with many UNAIDS colleagues over the last decade and was a strong ally of the organization. UNAIDS deeply mourns her loss and the whole of its global staff extend our heartfelt condolences to her family.

Regan Hofmann, Director, a.i., United States Liaison Office, UNAIDS

GENEVA, 29 February 2020—UNAIDS welcomes the appointment of Deborah Birx as the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator. Ms Birx’s distinguished career as a world-renowned medical expert has included her contribution to the recent progress in the global response to HIV and her commitment to working with communities affected by HIV in her position as the United States Global AIDS Coordinator and United States Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy.

“Vice President Mike Pence’s decision to appoint Deborah Birx to serve as the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator is a wise one,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima. “Ms Birx has repeatedly demonstrated her unparalleled ability to control infectious diseases and is extremely well positioned to develop an effective plan to address COVID-19 in the United States of America.”

Connecting people in need quickly with services that prevent, or treat, the effects of disease requires a specialized skill that Ms Birx has developed over her nearly three decades as a public health expert. Her experience with tackling disease-related stigma and discrimination and her understanding of how to develop effective health responses that deliver results for people will be invaluable in her new role.

"I am confident that Ms Birx will translate the expertise she has applied to HIV to COVID-19,” said Ms Byanyima. “The insights gleaned from the response to HIV can be helpful for the containment of this new viral threat. There is a need for more collaborative work across disease categories. Even as we battle new diseases, we must remain vigilant about concurrent epidemics.”

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 Desert AIDS Project has awarded its prestigious Science and Medicine Award to UNAIDS. The award was presented to the Deputy Executive Director, Management and Governance, of UNAIDS, Gunilla Carlsson, at the 25th Annual Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards in Palm Springs, United States of America, on 9 February.

“UNAIDS is deeply humbled to receive the Science and Medicine Award from an organization like Desert AIDS Project, which has made, and continues to make, such an incredible contribution to the AIDS response. We accept this award on behalf of all people working to ensure that no one is left behind or excluded from life-saving HIV services,” said Ms Carlsson.

Ms Carlsson was joined on stage by Musah Lumumba El-nasoor, the Team Leader of the East and Southern Africa Youth Alliance on Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV.

“UNAIDS is mobilizing political support, setting the pace and the global agenda, to ensure that science is matched with the necessary resources and tools to deliver results for all people, including those at the margins of society,” Mr El-nasoor said.

Named after one of the Desert AIDS Project’s earliest financial supporters, the designer Steve Chase, the Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards ceremony is the biggest fundraising event of the year for the Desert AIDS Project and an important event on the Palm Springs social calendar.

Steve Chase died of an AIDS-related illness in 1994 at the age of 52 and left an incredible mark on the Desert AIDS Project through his philanthropic work and his ability to bring people together. The first Steve Chase Awards ceremony was held in his honour in 1995.

The Desert AIDS Project provides HIV prevention, treatment and care services to people living with and affected by HIV across the Palm Springs area. Established by a group of volunteers in 1984, the project is today raising funds to expand its Palm Springs campus. With the support of volunteers and donors, it is hoped that the newly raised funds will help meet the health-care needs of 10 000 people, many who are living with HIV.

The event was attended by around 2000 people and made more than US$ 1 million, which will be put towards the US$ 20 million needed for the Desert AIDS Project’s expansion plans. To date, the Desert AIDS Project has raised US$ 13 million towards its goal.

“With leadership provided by the United Nations, and specifically UNAIDS, all of us, including the Desert AIDS Project, working together will achieve what was previously thought of as impossible: the end of AIDS,” said David Brinkman, the Chief Executive Officer of the Desert AIDS Project.

Past award winners of the Science and Medicine Award include Michael Gottlieb, Desmond Tutu and Anthony Fauci.