The Lucrecia Paim Maternity Hospital is one of Angola’s model clinics in providing access to antiretroviral therapy for pregnant women living with HIV to prevent the transmission of the virus to their babies. The Executive Director of UNAIDS Michel Sidibé visited the facility in Luanda on 8 October and called for greater efforts in reaching all pregnant women living with HIV and ensuring that all babies are born free of HIV in Angola. This came after several Angolan ministers made a strong commitment to scaling-up prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) and treatment services.

Angola is one of 22 priority countries included in the Global Plan towards the elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive. While data from the Angolan government shows the percentage of pregnant women testing for HIV increased by 55% between 2009 and 2012, Angola is the only priority country where the number of new infections among children increased between 2009 and 2012. 

Mr Sidibé met jointly with the ministers of Health, Education, Women, Defence, Youth and Sports, and Social Affairs and encouraged a multi-sectorial leadership to rapidly expand Angola’s response to HIV. The ministers committed to scaling-up HIV programmes to ensure all babies are born free of HIV and people living with HIV have access to treatment in Angola.

During his official two-day visit to Angola, Mr Sidibé also met with representatives of civil society and the private sector to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the Angolan AIDS response.

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The Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé has appointed two popular Angolan musicians C4 Pedro and Titica as National Goodwill Ambassadors on 7 October at a press event held in Luanda, Angola. The two musicians will help raise awareness on issues relating to HIV prevention and treatment, especially among young people in Angola.

Pedro Lisboa Santos, commonly known by his stage name C4 Pedro is a dynamic Angolan performer, composer and producer. He started his music career with his brother Lil Sain’t in Belgium, where he lived for 10 years. After returning to Angola in 2009, he released two successful albums that made him a household name in Angola.

C4 Pedro has been involved in community outreach activities and as UNAIDS National Goodwill Ambassador, he will focus on encouraging young people to know their HIV status and be advocates for a healthy lifestyle.

Titica is a pop star favourite in Angola. Her first album entitled “Ground” was a hit not only in Angola but was also brought to the international stage in countries such as Brazil, Germany, Mozambique, South Africa, and Spain. A transgender person, Titica has been affected by stigma and discrimination and she hopes she can turn her experience into a positive message to change attitudes in Angola.

The HIV epidemic remains a public health challenge in Angola. In 2012, an estimated 28 000 new HIV infections occurred in the country compared to 19 000 in 2001. Young people, particularly young women are most vulnerable to HIV. In the last decade, the number of young people living with HIV increased by more than 60% – from 20 000 in 2001 to 33 000 in 2012. The number of young women living with HIV was almost double the number of young men living with HIV in 2012.

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Hard-won gains against the HIV epidemic in Jamaica could be at stake due to national budgetary constraints and the country’s increasing HIV treatment costs, a study shows. As a result, the Jamaican government has taken steps to enhance the planning and efficiency of its national AIDS programme.

“Since 2004, with the introduction of antiretroviral treatment, AIDS-related deaths in Jamaica have dropped by 41% and mother-to-child transmission of HIV has fallen from 25% in 2004 to below 5% in 2011,” said Health Minister, Fenton Ferguson. “Jamaica is on the way to success and we can’t have it derailed.”

With support from the World Bank and UNAIDS, the country conducted a landmark study on the financial sustainability of its AIDS response. The study projected that the annual cost of Jamaica’s HIV programme may double by 2030. It also reported that Jamaica’s ability to increase domestic spending for HIV is limited by its high levels of public debt—the country is classified by the World Bank as an upper middle income country, however, the island has a debt-to-GDP ratio of 140%. The country’s agreements with major partners including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the World Bank and the United States Government, are set to expire over the next two years.

According to Dr Ferguson the work has already begun. The UNAIDS investment approach was used to develop strategies to help the country’s HIV response survive and succeed.

For example, Jamaica has re-focussed its National Strategic Plan, with a strong emphasis on the needs of key populations at higher risk of infection, including men who have sex with men, sex workers and people who use drugs. It has also announced the establishment of an authority which joins the Family Planning Board with parts of the HIV Programme to lower administrative costs. The country is also exploring regional opportunities to lower the prices of antiretroviral medicines.

UNAIDS Country Coordinator, Dr Pierre Somse, commended the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Planning and Finance for jointly addressing the financial sustainability issues surrounding the HIV response. “HIV is being dealt with as a development issue by the Government of Jamaica within the context of the country’s 2030 national development plan,” said Dr Somse. “The HIV response continues to enjoy the highest level of political commitment across political parties,” he added.

In the 2013/2014 fiscal year, the Government increased its share of HIV spending, however to facilitate the implementation of the new strategies the Health Minister has called for “a more gradual transition from international funding”.

The President of Angola José Eduardo dos Santos said his country is committed to stopping new HIV infections among children and improving access to HIV treatment. He made the commitment during a meeting with UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé on 7 October in Angola’s capital of Luanda.  

Since the 27-year civil war ended in 2002, Angola has moved swiftly to become one of the fastest growing economies in the world and the government is gradually rebuilding its public infrastructure

Mr Sidibé congratulated the President on his leadership and engagement in the peaceful and economic transformation of Angola and called on him to take on the twin challenges of ensuring all babies are born free of HIV and ensuring all Angolans living with HIV have access to lifesaving antiretroviral treatment.

Angola is one of the few countries in Africa where new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths have risen in the last ten years. New HIV infections increased from 19 000 in 2011 to 28 000 in 2012 – a 47% increase. AIDS-related deaths rose from 8 400 in 2001 to 13 000 in 2012. Antiretroviral treatment coverage for adults and children is also very low in Angola. Only 15% of eligible children and 48% of adults had access to treatment in 2012 under 2010 guidelines from the World Health Organization.

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Obstetricians and gynecologists, ministers, public health specialists and civil society organizations convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 2-5 October at the First International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) Africa Regional Conference to discuss ways of improving maternal and child health in Africa.

Speaking at the opening, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Programme, Luiz Loures highlighted the link between HIV and maternal and child health. He called for women’s health and HIV communities to closely work together to increase access to life-saving health services to reach the most marginalized in society.  He also stressed the need to uphold the sexual and reproductive rights of women living with HIV. 

In sub-Saharan Africa, women are more likely to be living with HIV than men, accounting for 58% of the 22.1 million adults who were living with HIV in the region in 2012. Young women are particularly at risk of HIV infection–– around 28% of all new adult HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa are among young women between the ages of 15-24. HIV is also a leading cause of death among women of reproductive age and has a major impact on child health and mortality, mainly through the transmission of HIV from mother to child.

Dr Loures congratulated FIGO on its visionary and bold work on women’s sexual and reproductive rights. He also underscored UNAIDS commitment to strengthening its collaboration with FIGO to raise political visibility and engage women’s networks on HIV and sexual and reproductive rights issues to reduce AIDS related maternal and child mortality.

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UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé welcomed the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, Kostyantyn Gryshchenko to UNAIDS Headquarters in Geneva. During their bilateral meeting, they reviewed Ukraine’s impressive progress in its national AIDS response.

The country has nearly doubled the number of people accessing HIV treatment in the last year—now reaching more than 40 000 people. Vice Prime Minister Gryshchenko conveyed his appreciation to UNAIDS, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and national foundations for supporting the HIV response in Ukraine and expressed hope that Ukraine will advance this progress through the newly developed National AIDS Programme for 2014-2018.

The Vice Prime Minister also reiterated the invitation by the Government of Ukraine to Mr Sidibé to make his first official visit from 22 to 24 October 2013.

In October 2012, a high-level delegation of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) visited Ukraine to see first-hand the achievements in the national AIDS response. Ukraine will join as a new member of the PCB for a three-year term from 2014 to 2016.

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UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Programme, Luiz Loures shaking hands with the President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardi. Photo courtesy of South Sudan Presidency.

The President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit has reaffirmed his commitment to expand HIV programmes in the country.  During a meeting with UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Programme, Luiz Loures in South Sudan’s capital Juba, President Kiir said, "We won the battle for the independence of South Sudan. We will also win the war against HIV.  I have made this my priority. I want to keep my people safe at all costs."

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 following a 30-year civil war that claimed the lives of more than 2.5 million people. The country is now entering a challenging transition period––from war to peace and development.

For the past two years South Sudan, in collaboration with its development partners, has been working hard to build multi-sectorial institutions and infrastructure to provide basic public services, including education and health care.

“These efforts are a testament to the resilience of the South Sudanese people and a clear sign of their desire to achieve a viable independent state,” said Dr Loures commending the government for its commitment to creating a healthy and productive nation.

Efforts are in particular need of scaling up in the country’s response to HIV. In 2012, an estimated 150 000 people were living with HIV in South Sudan and just 9% people who were eligible for treatment under the World Health Organization’s 2010 guidelines had access to lifesaving antiretroviral therapy. Only 13% of pregnant women living with HIV had access to services to prevent transmission of the virus to their child and AIDS-related deaths have almost doubled since 2001––from 6 900––to 13 000 in 2012.

The population of South Sudan is largely made up of young people. According to the World Bank, 51% of the population in the country are under the age of 18 and 72% are under the age of 30. President Kiir acknowledged the need to tailor HIV services to the needs of young people, “If they are left vulnerable, there will be no country,” he said.

UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Programme Dr Luiz Loures with United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan peacekeepers at Bangladeshi Camp, UN Base Tomping on 30 September 2013. Credit: UNAIDS

Dr Loures emphasized the need to firmly engage the armed forces in the response to HIV. The South Sudanese army has been at the forefront of the national AIDS response having established an HIV Secretariat in 2006.

Dr Loures also addressed the United Nations peacekeeping mission troops deployed in South Sudan. He highlighted the responsibility that peacekeepers have in preventing gender-based violence and sexual exploitation in their operational zones––two key factors that exacerbate the spread of HIV in conflict and post-conflict settings, as outlined in the UN Security Council in Resolution 1983.

During his visit Dr Loures met with Ministers, representatives of the United Nations Secretary-General and development partners to take stock of the AIDS response in the world’s youngest nation. The discussions focused particularly on security, peacekeeping and HIV in a post-conflict zone.

UNAIDS and the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent State (CIS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 30 September at UNAIDS Headquarters in Geneva. The agreement aims at intensifying the AIDS response in countries of the CIS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia—where the HIV epidemic continues to rise.

Signed by the Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the CIS, Sergey Lebedev and UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé, the Memorandum will extend the collaboration between the parties. The collaboration was first initiated in 2001 when the CIS Council of Heads of States approved the first ‘Programme of urgent measures in response to AIDS’ and was advanced through the Action plan to strengthen cooperation in the field of development to achieve the Millennium Development Goal 6 in the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (12 October 2011).

The major fields of cooperation of this new memorandum include:

• to increase cooperation between governments and civil society organizations to scale up access to HIV services for people living with HIV;
• to share best practices in addressing challenges in the AIDS response;
• to foster CIS Member States involvement in international activities on AIDS;
• and to strengthen cooperation towards achieving the Millennium Development Goal 6—to halt and reverse the spread of HIV by 2015—in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The ceremony was attended by representatives of diplomatic missions of the CIS countries in Geneva, including the Ambassadors of Belarus and Turkmenistan, as well as senior UNAIDS staff from Geneva and the UNAIDS Regional Support Team in Moscow.

Established in 1991, the CIS promotes cooperation in political, economic, environmental, humanitarian, cultural and other domains between its Member States. It is made up of 11 countries including: Republic of Armenia, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Belarus, Republic of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and the Republic of Uzbekistan.

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Barbara Martinez, a young Ecuadorian activist living with HIV, urged the international community not to drop its guard on HIV during her address at the 68th United Nations General Assembly special event on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The event was convened to review progress towards the MDGs as well as to discuss the transition into the post-2015 development framework.

Ms Martinez stressed that integrated and concerted action was needed to reach the MDGs and urged the international community, civil society and people living with HIV to remain vigilant in achieving the goals originally set in the Millennium Declaration. She also called on world leaders to ensure HIV remains a high priority for the world in the post-2015 agenda.

According to Ms Martinez, the MDGs have helped countries make major advances in their responses to HIV. She went on to stress that the efforts towards these goals have greatly contributed to a major reduction in the number of children born with HIV and the dramatic increase in the number of people accessing HIV treatment.

As the only speaker representing civil society, Ms Martinez participated as a member of the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Young People Living with HIV (Y+LAC). Around 210 000 young people are currently living with HIV in Latin America and the Caribbean, with 34 000 new HIV infections among young people in 2012.

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L to R: Ambassador Eric Goosby, US Global AIDS Coordinator; President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame; US Secretary of State, John Kerry; President of Namibia, Hifikepunye Pohamba; and South African Ambassador to the United States, Ebrahim Rasool. Credit: PEPFAR

The Secretary of State John Kerry unveiled a United States (US) plan to enter into Country Health Partnerships—a new model of collaborative work—with Namibia, Rwanda and South Africa. The announcement was made by Secretary Kerry during a high-level meeting he hosted on the margins of the 68th United Nations General Assembly.

The new initiative is intended to strengthen collaboration with selected country partner governments leading to greater and mutual accountability and long-term sustainability.

“The Country Health Partnerships are about shared responsibility, shared accountability, budget transparency, and a commitment to investing strategically based on what we’ve learned from improved data collection and analysis,” said Secretary Kerry. “South Africa, Rwanda, and Namibia are all on the front lines of these efforts.”

The meeting featured the participation of the President of Namibia, the President of Rwanda, the South African Ambassador to the United States and global health leaders including UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé.

“To convene this meeting with key African heads of state and partners during the UN General Assembly sends a strong signal of the continued leadership and support of the US Government for the global AIDS response,” said Mr Sidibé. He also highlighted the continued commitment of UNAIDS to provide the strategic information and support for investment approaches that would help to ensure the success of the new partnerships.

During the roundtable, the Secretary of State also announced that the US will host the next Global Fund Replenishment Meeting in Washington, DC in December 2013.  Secretary Kerry highlighted the strong commitment from other donors to support the successful replenishment of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Earlier this year, Germany, the Nordic Countries, France and the United Kingdom have already announced important contributions to the Global Fund for the 2014 – 2016 period to support countries in their response to HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.