L to R: German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Dirk Niebel, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé, German Federal Minister of Health (BMG), Daniel Bahr.
Photo credit: UNAIDS/ C. Koall

“Health.Right.Now” was the theme of a one-day high-level conference held in Berlin on 21 November focusing on HIV prevention and human rights. Co-hosted by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Ministry of Health (BMG), the conference was attended by more than 150 participants including representatives from German and international civil society organizations, networks of people living with HIV, ministries and the United Nations.

The aim of the conference was to discuss ways to overcome the barriers many key populations at higher risk of HIV infection encounter when accessing HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services.

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé delivered the keynote address at the conference. In his speech, Mr Sidibé outlined the progress made during the past year in HIV science, in particular the treatment for prevention approach as well as the leadership shown by countries, especially when adopting the 2011 Political Declaration on AIDS. He equally spoke on the challenges facing the response, from funding cutbacks to misalignment of HIV prevention programmes in many countries.

Mr Sidibe commended Germany for its effective and pragmatic approach to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, as well as its long history in overcoming stigma and discrimination.

“Germany has been at the forefront of the AIDS response by putting people at the centre of its approach to HIV prevention and treatment and addressing stigma and discrimination,” said Mr. Sidibé, in the presence of the Minister of Health, Daniel Bahr, and the Minister for Economic Development and Cooperation, Dirk Niebel. “Your participation here today shows your commitment to helping shape the destiny of the epidemic.”

In their remarks, the Federal Ministers expressed their concerns over the growing epidemic in Eastern Europe and called for a unified response.  

In a separate meeting with Federal Ministers Bahr and Niebel, the UNAIDS Executive Director thanked Germany for its support of the global AIDS response and its contributions to UNAIDS. Mr Sidibé presented an overview of the UNAIDS Investment Framework— intended to support better management of national and international AIDS responses— and plans to work with countries to ensure efficiency gains from the resources available.

The conference is part of the BMZ’s 50th anniversary celebrations, a year-long campaign assessing Germany’s engagement in international development and its future development policy.

On the sidelines of the conference, UNAIDS launched its 2011 World AIDS Day Report. Federal Ministers Niebel and Bahr and Silke Klumb, the CEO of Germany’s national AIDS organization, Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe, joined Mr Sidibé at a press conference to release the report.

Credit: UNAIDS

“Africa is taking ownership of its AIDS response”. That was the message sent by all participants during a consultation organized by UNAIDS on 16 November 2011 at UNAIDS Headquarters in Geneva.

The UNAIDS Executive Director convened a group of high level representatives from leading political, economic and regional institutions in Africa to identify the changes that will be required to the way decisions and investments are made and to the roles played by governments, donors and civil society in the response.

The aim of the consultation was to identify opportunities to mobilize African and other leaders to accelerate progress towards the new goals of the 2011 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, particularly the elimination of HIV infections among children and putting 15 million people on HIV treatment by 2015. The group offered a series of proposals on how to create a socially sustainable agenda for AIDS given the challenges and opportunities of a complex, varied and quickly evolving context.

“The message we need to take to leaders is that they have the power to create change in their countries,” said the meeting co-chair, Commissioner Bience Gawanas of the African Union Commission.

Much of the discussion recounted how the world has moved on from the donor/recipient development paradigm that characterized the past 50 years. Participants cast an image of a very different Africa emphasizing key developments including its remarkable economic growth, the rising share of working age people to further foster growth and increased access to technology and communication. Also highlighted was the increasing number of countries no longer dependent on aid and the accompanying leadership and independence it has brought.

According to participants, ushering in a new era of shared responsibility will depend on seizing these opportunities as well as responding to several remaining challenges including the lack of a strong African voice in global health governance, a pervasive “dependency mindset” and Africa’s unsustainable reliance on foreign-produced and -funded HIV treatment.

Participants explored how to better engage parliamentarians, civil society, regional economic commissions, the private sector and ministers of finance and foreign affairs, recognizing that all have a key role to play in sustaining the response. They also discussed innovative, African-owned accountability mechanisms like AIDS Watch Africa and the Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal, New Born and Child Mortality. New South-South and innovative continent-wide resource mobilization initiatives, such as those led by the African Development Bank, were also explored.

Participants included Dr Agnes Soucat, African Development Bank; Honourable Gilbert Mangole, Member of Parliament of Botswana; Ms Thokozile Ruzvidzo, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa; Dr Lucica Ditiu, StopTB Partnership; Dr Akram Ali Eltom, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; Dr Alvaro Bermejo, International HIV/AIDS Alliance; Dr. Jeanetta K. Johnson, West African Health Organization; and Dr Faria de Brito Carlos Pedro, West African Health Organization. The consultation was held on 16 November 2011 at UNAIDS Headquarters in Geneva.

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé stated that “leaders understand that the response is not about cost, it is about investing in the transformation of our societies.” Participants concluded that the urgency now is to engage African leaders in nationally-led processes to redefine the AIDS response and reprogramme investments based on national priorities.

At the 2011 United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS that took place in June in New York, Member States adopted a new Political Declaration entitled “Intensifying our Efforts to Eliminate HIV/AIDS”, which contains new targets to effectively respond to the AIDS epidemic.

The new Political Declaration, as the one adopted in 2001 did, mandates countries to report to the UNAIDS Secretariat every two years on progress made in achieving the new commitments as well as UNAIDS to support countries in reporting back. It also provides for the UN Secretary-General to report regularly to the General Assembly on progress achieved in realizing these commitments.

In order to help countries produce standardized reports to effectively measure the state of the epidemic, UNAIDS has released the new guidelines on Global AIDS Response Progress Reporting 2012. The guidelines outline a set of core global indicators designed to help countries assess the current state of their national AIDS response and progress made in achieving their national HIV targets. They will contribute to a better understanding of the global AIDS response, including progress towards meeting the global targets set in the 2011 Political Declaration as well as the Millennium Development Goals.

The new global guidelines replace the UNGASS reporting ones that were based on the 2001 UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV and AIDS and which saw the submission of reports by 182 out of 192 Member States in 2010.

UNAIDS encourages UN Member States to continue their outstanding record of reporting on national progress on AIDS and to submit their next Country Progress Reports on AIDS by 31 March 2012.

For more information on the Global AIDS Response Progress Reporting please visit www.unaids.org/aidsreporting or contact the team at aidsreporting@unaids.org

(L to R): The Vice-Chair of the Global Fund Policy and Strategy Committee, Todd Summers, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé, Minister of Health of Eritrea, Amina Nurthussein Abdelkadir and Minister of Health of Ghana, Joseph Yieleh Chireh.

The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has initiated a number of actions and processes to strengthen its oversight and accountability mechanisms. These new processes will be discussed at the upcoming 25^th Global Fund Board meeting that will take place in Accra, Ghana from 21 – 22 November 2011.

Ahead of the Board meeting, UNAIDS, in collaboration with WHO and Stop TB Partnership, convened a two day consultation with implementers of Global Fund programmes in Nairobi, Kenya from 3 - 4 November. This consultation was called to create a platform for implementers to discuss the changes taking place within the Global Fund, to help shape this transformation and contribute to the increased ownership and effective implementation of the reforms.

In his opening speech, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé stressed the need for a strong and vibrant Global Fund. “We live times of what can be considered turbulent change, but with change comes the opportunity,” said Mr Sidibé. “The opportunity to refine grant architecture, improve governance structures and prioritise activities to improve and accelerate results.”

During the meeting, participants considered the Global Fund 2012-2015 Strategy as well as the Consolidated Transformation Plan (CTP), which is a concrete set of actions developed from the High Level Panel report. Discussions and debates focused on how to input into these documents in order to maximize the Global Fund´s efficiency, enhance country ownership and establish effective systems for mutual accountability.

The meeting provided an opportunity for the implementers to develop an informed voice to influence processes as they move forward as well as to actively participate and contribute to the discussions around: Defining ownership; Simplifying the Global Fund’s architecture; Addressing prioritisation; and Improving accountability and effectiveness.

“Defining country ownership is key,” said Kandasi Walton-Levermore, Chair of the Jamaican Country Coordinating Mechanism. “It means owning all aspects of the national AIDS response, not just owning a Global Fund grant."

One of the outcomes of the meeting was a document capturing the common positions of the implementers, including recommendations on how to go forward.  This document will be used as the unifying voice of all implementing partners during the upcoming Global Fund Board meeting.

Peer educators providing HIV prevention information during a community fair in Puntarenas.

José is a young AIDS peer educator in the Costa Rican port city of Limon and he is proud to share HIV prevention messages and tips on how to stay healthy with other young people. “It’s really great to see how at the end of a session the group knows more about HIV. We also have a better idea of how to protect ourselves and deal with our relationships more successfully,” he said. 

As one of more than 80 peer educators, between the ages of 18 and 24, José is taking part in an ambitious HIV prevention project in the cities of Limon and Puntarenas, which are among the most affected by the virus in Costa Rica. The educators have gone through extensive training and can provide educational and communication materials and tools to their counterparts in a lively and informative way.

The three-year programme which began at the end of 2008 is called Friendly education and health services to promote healthy lifestyles and prevent HIV and AIDS—or Giro 180 for short. Supported by UNAIDS, the programme is managed by its cosponsors the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). The UN bodies work alongside the country’s Vice-Ministry of Youth and the National Council on Public Policy for Youth.

The peer educators themselves have developed a number of the interventions, including using online games that feature questionnaires on HIV risk and a Facebook page. Youth carnivals and community fairs, board game evenings and artistic, musical and recreational activities are also being used.

“We did a fair in Villa Plata, a very poor place,” said Deiker, a youth promoter in Limon. “We gave out information, played and had fun. We were there, sharing experiences with the boys from morning till evening. And in the end the guys didn’t want to leave.”

 As well as providing young people with HIV information and life skills to make informed choices, the project also seeks to build the capacity of healthcare and educational institutions to attain these goals in a protective environment.

Some 73 000 adolescents in the two cities aged between 13 and 18 are the main beneficiaries and young people from around the country are also indirectly benefiting from the political and institutional advocacy and information campaigns launched by the project.

Such information campaigns are vital in a country where a 2008 study carried out by UNFPA and UNICEF, with support from UNAIDS, found that the majority of young people in Costa Rica were sexually active by the age of 16. The same study showed that fewer than 30% of young people in Limon and 17% in Puntarenas knew how to use a condom correctly.

However, things are changing. The programme has led to an increase in commitment from government authorities and decision makers. A number of local and regional institutions, such as the Department of Health in Limon, have committed themselves to broadening youth-friendly HIV services. In Puntarenas, schools have adopted the ‘Giro Junior’ intervention, dedicated to the development of specific strategies to challenge HIV, with guidance and support centers. The regional Ministry of Public Education has also prepared a set of guidelines for HIV prevention in schools, which will be binding throughout the region.

The team spearheading the programme hopes that it will become a flagship model. For at least one of the peer educators, Bizmark from Limon, they are enjoying making waves, “Older people might be a bit scared of us talking so openly, widely and directly. We are changing lives in perhaps the only way people can change, which is having fun while learning.”

UNAIDS Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Dr Sheila Tlou (left) with the First Lady of Uganda Janet Kataaha Museveni.
Credit: UNAIDS

UNAIDS Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Dr Sheila Tlou appealed to Uganda’s First Lady Janet Kataaha Museveni to champion the elimination of new HIV infections among children in the country.

The request was made during Dr Tlou’s official visit to Uganda from 8-9 November 2011 aimed at engaging high level political leadership in support of the Global plan towards the elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive. Uganda is one of the 22 countries who participated in the development of the Global Plan and has committed to implement it. 

“We should strive to keep mothers alive so that we do not create more orphans,” said Dr Tlou. “We should also enrol them on antiretroviral therapy as soon as possible so that they can safely continue breastfeeding and ensure that the babies are healthy,” she added.

The Director General of the Uganda AIDS Commission, Dr David Kihumuro Apuuli noted that 150 000 children below 15 years in Uganda are HIV positive, with only 24 000 accessing HIV treatment out of 98 000 who need it. Dr Apuuli also noted that adults, who should be an example to the youths, are the ones contributing to over 50% of new infections mostly because of multiple concurrent partnerships.

The First Lady called on government leaders to ‘re-energize their efforts in HIV prevention. “I think prevention campaigns relaxed and people forgot that HIV is still with us. We need to continue drumming HIV prevention messages, especially regarding the elimination of new HIV infections among children, so that people wake up,” said Ms Museveni. “I have been speaking to the president to talk about HIV. He used to and it worked.”

The First Lady Museveni is the founder of the Uganda Women’s Initiative to Save Orphans, and is the patron for the National Youths Forum plus several youth initiatives in HIV and sexual reproductive health.

Ms Museveni who recognized UNAIDS’ work in Uganda, committed to lead the AIDS response. “My traditional area of work focused on young people. But now I’m scattered. It has really distracted me from my calling but I know we really have a challenge. I’m willing to come back on board,” she said.

During her visit, Dr Tlou was also met with the Minister of Health Dr Christine Andoa, Apuuli, and the head of the AIDS Control Programme in the Ministry Of Health Dr Zainab Akol.

“One Day on Earth” is a global initiative involving thousands of filmmakers

On 11 November 2011, UNAIDS teamed up with the global initiative, “One Day on Earth” to film the many faces of the HIV response. More than 50 UNAIDS field offices in all parts of the globe participated in the project and captured different HIV-related events taking place during a 24-hour period.

Using small high definition video cameras donated by “One Day on Earth,” field staff filmed a wide range of activities. For example, in sub-Saharan Africa, UNAIDS employees video-taped the flying doctors that bring HIV services to remote communities in the mountains of Lesotho. In Tajikistan, the focus was on a civil society organization called “Spin Plus,” which provides methadone substitution therapy to injecting drug users and in Sri Lanka a UNAIDS staff member living with HIV filmed a program which encouraged hospital staff to overcome stigma and discrimination.

“Every minute, in every corner of the world there are health care workers, civil society groups and people living with HIV who are working tirelessly to bring much needed HIV prevention, treatment and care and support to communities,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. “We wanted to chronicle their efforts and show that everyday we are coming one step closer to reaching the UNAIDS vision of Zero new HIV infections, Zero discrimination and Zero AIDS-related deaths.”

It is the first time that UNAIDS has participated in the collaborative filming experience which is the brainchild of Kyle Ruddick and Brandon Litman, two entrepreneurs from the United States of America. “Our goal was to film on one day in every country of the world. We wanted to show the amazing diversity, conflict, tragedy and triumph that occur in one day,” said Mr. Litman.

The first annual simultaneous filming event took place last year when thousands of documentary filmmakers, students and citizens in over 190 countries recorded a wide range of events on 10 October 2010. Last year’s footage was made into a feature-length documentary film which will be screened globally next February. In addition all the material is publicly available via an online searchable archive.

L to R: United Nations Resident Coordinator Rosine Cori Coulibaly, UNAIDS Regional Director for West and Central Africa Meskerem Grunitzky-Bekele, Minister of Health and Fight against HIV/AIDS, Dr Sabine Ntakarutimana, 2nd Vice President of Burundi Gervais Rufyikiri, US Ambassador to Burundi, Pamela Slutz.

Burundi is a small densely populated country located in sub-Saharan Africa with an HIV prevalence of 2.97% among the general population. It is also one of 22 countries worldwide that has contributed to the development of and signed up to implement the Global Plan towards the elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive.

In an effort to inform and mobilize the general population about the possibility of a new Burundian generation free of HIV, the Government of Burundi spearheaded a national launch of the Global Plan at the end of October.

Classified as a low-income country, Burundi’s economy has been highly affected by a long period of civil war, which has had a significant impact on sanitation, infrastructure and human development. In this context, preventing new HIV infections among children has been one of the country’s main challenges, with coverage of HIV services reaching only 30% of pregnant women at the end of 2010. To effectively respond to this challenge, Burundi has developed a national plan for the period of 2011-2015 in accordance with the Global initiative.

“Every man should accompany his wife to pre-natal consultation and—jointly with her—request an HIV test,” stated His Excellency the 2nd Vice President Gervais Rufyikiri during the launch. “Engagement of men is key to the success of this initiative,” he added.

The U.S. Ambassador to Burundi, Pamela Slutz, emphasized that in order to help the Burundian government eliminate new HIV infections among children, the U.S. Government, through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), had dedicated US$ 10 million exclusively for the implementation of such programmes in the country.

Speaking at the launch, the Minister of Health and Fight against HIV/AIDS, Dr Sabine Ntakarutimana  said that activities like family planning reproductive health and HIV will be harmonized and articulated in the health system to promote efficient results.

UNAIDS Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Dr Meskerem Grunitzky-Bekele, who represented the UNAIDS Executive Director at the launch, highlighted that Burundi understood the need to act now. “The price to be paid for the country’s inaction will be too high for future generations,” she said.

This Global Plan provides the foundation for country-led movement towards the elimination of new HIV infections among children and keeping their mothers alive. The Global Plan was developed through a consultative process by a high level Global Task Team convened by UNAIDS and co-chaired by UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé and United States Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby. It brings together 30 countries and 50 civil society, private sector, networks of people living with HIV and international organizations to chart a roadmap towards achieving this goal by 2015.

WASHINGTON D.C./GENEVA, 8 November 2011—The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) commends the United States Government on its continued leadership in the AIDS response following the call by the US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for global solidarity to “change the course of the epidemic and usher in an AIDS-free generation”.

“Leadership from the United States has been vital to the AIDS response to date and will be key to seizing this historic opportunity,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Secretary Clinton has reaffirmed the United States’ Government’s strong commitment to this effort and has described a vision that should inspire us all. I hope that her call will galvanize leadership from around the globe to accelerate efforts to end the AIDS epidemic.”

In her speech, the US Secretary of State outlined the far-reaching impact of scaling up scientifically proven prevention strategies in combination with new and emerging developments in HIV science and research. These strategies include: elimination of new HIV infections among children, increased voluntary medical male circumcision, and expanded access to treatment.

Earlier this year UNAIDS highlighted the significance of the recent research demonstrating that people who access treatment early can reduce their likelihood of transmitting HIV to a partner by 96%. The potential impact of treatment for prevention will change attitudes, connect communities and motivate millions of people find out their HIV status and to talk openly with their partners about HIV.

To achieve an AIDS-free generation, the US Secretary of State reiterated UNAIDS’ call for greater engagement and investment in the global AIDS response by both donor and recipient countries.

UNAIDS underlines the importance of shared responsibility in the AIDS response. Shared responsibility is one of the central pillars of UNAIDS’ strategy to reach zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths by 2015.

UNAIDS is already working closely with PEPFAR and other partners around the world to achieve the ambitious goals UN member states committed to in the 2011 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS. Achieving these goals will bring the world one step closer to an AIDS-free generation.

(L to R) Natalya Lukyanova, Red Card Campaign Coordinator, Andriy Shevchenko, Ukrainian National Team football player, Dr Ani Shakarishvili, UNAIDS Country Coordinator in Ukraine
Credit: UNAIDS/K.Gladka

The ‘Give AIDS the red card’ campaign, an initiative that uses the power of football to eliminate stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV, kicked off on Thursday 27 October in Ukraine. Organized by the Government of Ukraine, the new campaign was launched within the framework of the European Football Championship 2012 to be co-hosted by Ukraine and Poland in summer 2012.

“To reach out to young people, we speak ‘football language’ because football unites us regardless of our social, gender, ethnic or religious differences”, said Ravil Safiullin, Head of the State Service for Youth and Sports of Ukraine.

The new campaign also aims to promote safe sex and condom use along with addressing gender inequality, sexual exploitation, and domestic violence. To that end, images of celebrities with the campaign messages will be place on billboards and on metro stations around Kiev and the other country regions. Posters will also be distributed in educational institutions as well as railway stations. Finally, public service announcements will be broadcasted via national media.

The Red Card campaign starts simultaneously in all regions of the country and is supported by the football star Andriy Shevchenko and other celebrities such as singers Ani Lorak and Gaitana and the World’s Strongman 2004 Vasyl’ Virastyuk.  UNAIDS, UNICEF and UNFPA as well as civil society organizations such as the All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance in Ukraine and La Strada are also supporting the campaign.

“This initiative emphasizes the growing commitment of the Government of Ukraine and the society at large to tackle key social problems facing the country,” said Dr Ani Shakarishvili, UNAIDS Country Coordinator in Ukraine. “We hope that the campaign will help remove existing barriers to an effective national AIDS response and it will bring Ukraine closer to the UNAIDS vision of Zero new HIV infections, Zero AIDS-related deaths and Zero discrimination”.

The HIV epidemic continues to grow in Ukraine and it has become the most severe of whole of Europe. Only one third of the estimated 350 000 people currently living with HIV is aware of their status and has access to HIV services. Furthermore, only 26 000 people living with HIV are currently on treatment. According to the Stigma Index research conducted in 2010, more than half of Ukrainians living with HIV are victims of some sort of stigma and discrimination.