Members of parliament from countries worldwide called for firm action towards ending the global AIDS epidemic on 15 October in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation. The members of parliament have gathered in Saint Petersburg for the 137th Assembly of the International Parliamentary Union, which is being held from 14 to 19 October.

The discussion, during a session entitled Ending AIDS through Sexual and Reproductive Health: the Need for Urgent Parliamentary Action, was focused on the rights of key populations, access to treatment, gender equality, addressing cultural barriers and the need for greater investment in the response to HIV.

Members of parliament debated the issues of legal support to HIV prevention and harm reduction initiatives. They put their voices behind creating an enabling legal environment for responding to the epidemic, but stressed the need to tailor the response by focusing on specific issues that vary from country to country and region to region. 

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The UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé, has addressed the 43rd Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie on the centrality of the Francophonie in making progress towards the end of AIDS.

The assembly, which brings Francophone parliamentarians together annually to exchange views, learn about good practices and take a position on cross-cutting issues affecting the French-speaking world, met on 10 July in Luxembourg.

Nearly 600 members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie and more than 20 presidents of parliamentary assemblies gathered for the event, which was held under the theme of “Linguistic diversity, cultural diversity, identities”.

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UNAIDS welcomed a group of prominent British parliamentarians from the cross-party International Development Committee to discuss the role of lawmakers in ending AIDS and contributing to global health. The parliamentarians were Labour Member of Parliament and Shadow Secretary of State for International Development Kate Osamor, Stephen Twigg, Labour Member of Parliament and Chair of the International Development Committee, Conservative Members of Parliament David Mackintosh and Paul Scully, and Baroness Sheehan, member of the House of Lords and the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for international development.

Deputy Executive Director Luiz Loures chaired an informal discussion that began with the Members of Parliament sharing their own experiences of visiting AIDS programmes in Africa and Asia. They spoke of their acute awareness of the complicated nature of the AIDS response, and Mr Twigg highlighted the role that discriminatory laws played in creating barriers to services. Mr Loures noted that one of the biggest challenges to the AIDS response was the risk of complacency. Baroness Sheehan expressed her concern about the increased vulnerability of girls and young women. The discussion explored the role of civil society and the shrinking space for civil society and Mr Scully noted the increasing need to mobilize domestic resources. 

Mr Loures highlighted the critical role of parliamentarians in ensuring that health and development international assistance is maintained and scaled up. Mr Mackintosh highlighted the need for increased efficiency and analysis on returns on investment to enable parliamentarians to advocate for sustained and increased funding.

Ms Osamor thanked Senior Adviser David Chipanta for sharing his personal story of living with HIV and the life-changing impact that access to treatment has had on his life.

The visit was organized by STOPAIDS, STOP AIDS Alliance, Results UK and Malaria No More. The United Kingdom is the fourth largest donor to UNAIDS.

Parliamentarians should collaborate worldwide to end the AIDS epidemic, according to the participants of the Ending the AIDS Epidemic as a Public Health Threat by 2030 workshop, which took place during the opening day of the World Health Summit in Berlin, Germany.

The workshop was organized by UNAIDS and the German Healthcare Partnership to bring together legislators, civil society, the private sector and academic leaders to explore ways to reach the Fast-Track Targets on ending the AIDS epidemic by innovating, accelerating and focusing their HIV programmes and policies.

In addition to political leadership, the session identified other essential factors necessary to meet the political targets agreed by United Nations Member States at the 2016 General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS and reviewed the latest progress in HIV diagnostics and treatment, investment and social engagement.

The participants also discussed how countries, cities and communities should prioritize their efforts to achieve the end of AIDS, what policy frameworks and innovative and alternative investment sources can be developed and utilized and how health systems can be strengthened to end AIDS and meet the Sustainable Development Goals without leaving anyone behind.

Participants

A broad spectrum of private sector, community, scientific and political representatives participated in the event, including UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Luiz Loures.

Key messages

The participants called for a new network of like-minded politicians from across the political spectrum to take action on health and HIV. They emphasized the need to reflect local realities while making best use of scientific knowledge and tools for preventing new HIV infections.

The participants stressed the importance of keeping young women in school in order to avoid them acquiring HIV infection from older men and noted that key populations—including prisoners—must have unfettered access to HIV prevention tools.

The participants called on governments to actively involve the private sector in the response to HIV and stressed the need to empower UNAIDS as a coordinator and communicator. They warned that without sufficient investment there would be a resurgent and resistant HIV epidemic.

The participants noted the necessity of building greater trust in communities and exploring incentives for people to adhere to treatment and that newer technologies, such as self-testing, community-based testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis, were showing great promise.

They also noted that it is necessary to improve infrastructure and strengthen systems of health in order to ensure that people in need are supported and retained.

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The Parliament of Djibouti has adopted a new plan to Fast-Track the end of the AIDS epidemic and increase protection for people living with HIV and key populations.  

The new strategy was formulated during a workshop attended by deputies as part of Djibouti’s national week of action against HIV. Opened by the Minister of Health and the Speaker of the National Assembly, the event brought parliamentarians together with people living with HIV and representatives of civil society organizations, the national AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria council and the United Nations. The workshop was an opportunity for parliamentarians to hear directly from people living with HIV about the social and legal challenges they face, including stigma and discrimination.  

The participants welcomed recent progress in the response to HIV in Djibouti, especially the decrease in HIV prevalence from 3% in 2000 to 1.6% at the end of 2014 and legislation introduced to strengthen the protection of people living with HIV and other vulnerable groups. The workshop also reviewed critical challenges to the HIV response, including the limited uptake of services to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and pervasive stigma, discrimination and other human rights violations towards people living with HIV and key populations.

In drawing up the new plan, parliamentarians said better coordination across government was required to implement the non-discrimination provisions of existing legislation. They also called for a public meeting at parliament with the National Network of People Living with HIV to raise awareness about stigma and discrimination. 

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Fiji has a low-level AIDS epidemic, with fewer than 1000 people estimated to be living with HIV in 2014. A combination of engaged leadership, integrated multisectoral action, evidence-informed and rights-based approaches and people-centred partnerships are behind the country’s success in the response to HIV. The Fijian strategy provides important lessons to help ensure greater progress across broader sustainable development issues and goals.

“Fiji’s AIDS response has much to celebrate—and much to share,” said UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Jan Beagle during her visit to Fiji from 30 November to 3 December. “There has been strong recognition that the most effective results can only be achieved through partnership, across sectors, through strong leadership and with community at the centre. By taking AIDS out of isolation, the impact can go far beyond the AIDS response.”

Partnership across government, communities, the health and education sectors and the United Nations system has led to focused prevention and treatment strategies and action. Responding to evidence of potential risk for key populations, Fiji has implemented a number of key policy and legal reforms, including decriminalizing sex between men and removing HIV-related travel restrictions and laws criminalizing HIV transmission or exposure.

Leaders in the country have consistently championed the HIV agenda, including through sustained activities to raise awareness in schools and among faith communities and the private sector.

In a meeting with Ms Beagle, President Jioji Konrote of Fiji expressed his personal commitment to continuing action on AIDS. Minister of Health and Medical Services Jone Usamate confirmed the country’s commitment to implementing the UNAIDS Fast-Track approach to increase action and front-load investments on HIV over the next five years and to end new HIV infections among children within the next two years.

“We need to continue the solid work in Fiji and use the experience and opportunity to strengthen efforts on climate change, noncommunicable diseases and gender-based violence,” he said, underlining the alignment of Fiji’s new National AIDS Plan with the UNAIDS strategy towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

Partners in the Fijian AIDS response agree that further scale-up must be continued to ensure sustained progress in the country and across the Pacific region.

“We cannot afford complacency on HIV and we need to keep it on the agenda, because we know that progress here is also having benefits across health, development, gender and rights issues,” said Speaker of the Parliament Jiko Fatafehi Luveni, a prominent advocate for HIV and women’s issues.

The newly elected Secretary of the Fiji Council of Churches, Simione Tugi, underlined the important role of faith-based communities and organizations across multiple religions to reach people in greatest need.

“Established networks, particularly within the faith community, help reach people even in hard to reach areas,” Mr Tugi said. “We will continue to be advocates for HIV through these structures so that we leave no one behind.”

Active involvement of people living with and affected by HIV is heralded by all partners as one of the key enablers for progress in the AIDS response.

Jokapeci Tuberi Cati of FJN+, Fiji’s network of people living with HIV, said, “We have made our voices heard and have been listened to, but we need ongoing focus, commitment and resources allocated to HIV. And we need to keep fighting stigma and discrimination for a more equal Fiji and safer society for all.”

Ending the AIDS epidemic is critical to making life better for women and girls and meeting their health and development needs, concluded a United Kingdom parliamentary panel that met in London.

The event, which took place on 4 November, was convened by Mike Freer, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on HIV & AIDS, and was attended by Grant Shapps, Minister of State for International Development. He was joined on the panel by Deborah Birx, United States Global AIDS Coordinator, the Athena Network’s Luisa Orza and UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Luiz Loures. Their audience included members of parliament, senior civil servants and representatives of community-based organizations.

In a wide-ranging discussion, the participants stressed that placing women and girls at the heart of global efforts to end the AIDS epidemic chimed well with the United Kingdom’s strong leadership in supporting adolescent girls’ well-being, empowerment and sexual and reproductive health and rights. In addition, it was asserted that responding to AIDS was important for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. 

The participants stressed the importance of Fast-Tracking the AIDS response in the next five years. It was highlighted that by investing during this fragile five-year window, the end of the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat can be achieved, which will also leverage broader outcomes for young women and girls. However, the task cannot be left to donors alone. It was agreed that shared responsibility in financing by countries that can afford it and innovation is critical to ensure continued results.

Mr Loures noted that UNAIDS’ political advocacy, country presence and extensive work with civil society could enhance partnerships with the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, ensuring that more women and girls are reached with HIV-related programmes.

Such programmes are crucial given that AIDS-related illnesses are still the main cause of death among adolescents in Africa. Every year around 380 000 young women (between 15 and 24 years old) are newly infected with HIV. In sub-Saharan Africa, adolescent girls account for 74% of all new HIV infections among adolescents.

The role that violence can play in heightening the vulnerability of women and girls to HIV was also discussed. In 2012, it was reported that around 120 million girls worldwide had experienced rape or other forced sexual acts and a South African study found that young women who had suffered violence at the hands of their partners were 50% more likely to have acquired HIV. Women are also often subjected to sexual violence in conflict situations.

Despite these challenges, the panel was optimistic, stating that with significant programmes and commitment, the rights of women and girls in all spheres could be significantly enhanced, allowing them to live in safety with the knowledge and freedom to make their own choices about how to protect themselves from HIV. 

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UNAIDS and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) have published a best practice report to assist parliamentarians around the world frame policy and improve access to HIV treatment services.

Launching Fast-Tracking HIV treatment: Parliamentary action and policy options, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, and the Secretary General of the IPU, Martin Chungong, described parliamentarians as having a pivotal role in expanding access to HIV treatment and helping UNAIDS reach its Fast-Track treatment targets.

They noted that expanding treatment involves respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of people most affected by HIV to ensure that everyone in need can access life-saving medicines. 

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