Urgent call issued for a dramatic upscaling of international support for the heroic efforts of civil society-led networks to reach people with life-saving HIV treatment 

GENEVA, 13 April 2022—The war in Ukraine has resulted in the destruction and disruption of health services and logistical supply chains that hundreds of thousands of people living with and affected by HIV depend on for survival. More than a quarter of a million Ukrainians are living with HIV, and lack of access to antiretroviral therapy and prevention services would mean a wave of deaths and risks a resurgence of Ukraine’s AIDS pandemic. The community-led networks which are vital to maintaining life-saving services need an urgent upscaling of international support.  

More than 40 health facilities that offered HIV treatment, prevention and care services before the war are now closed and there are various levels of service disruption at other sites. By 11 April, the World Health Organization (WHO) had verified more than 100 attacks on health facilities in Ukraine, while supply routes within the country have been thrown into disarray. The United Nations Children’s Fund reports that attacks on water system infrastructure and power outages have left an estimated 1.4 million people without access to water, while another 4.6 million have only limited access. Meanwhile, the World Bank has said it expects Ukraine’s economy to shrink by 45% this year, posing a dire threat to the maintenance of vital health and social programmes. 

An initial delivery of more than 18 million doses of life-saving antiretroviral medicine procured by the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) that arrived in Lviv last week is now being distributed in partnership with the Public Health Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and 100% Life, the largest organization of people living with HIV in Ukraine. If they can be delivered to those in need, the medicines are sufficient to cover a six-month supply for all people living with HIV on first-line treatment. This first tranche is part of PEPFAR’s commitment to fund 12-month HIV treatment needs in Ukraine. UNAIDS estimates that 260 000 people were living with HIV in Ukraine before the war broke out, 152 000 of whom were taking daily medication for HIV.  

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) is also providing emergency funding to ensure the continuity of life-saving HIV and tuberculosis services. 

Attention is now on ensuring that the life-saving HIV medicines reach all people in need in time. Civil society organizations are mounting a heroic effort to deliver vital medical supplies and HIV services to people living with and affected by HIV, including to vulnerable populations. They are reaching people in extraordinary challenging locations, despite the huge obstacles. But the civil society organizations on which this delivery and care system depends need further international support to be able to continue their work.  

“The situation for people living with HIV in Ukraine is desperate. We are trying to deliver medicines, food and other emergency assistance to people in need, but the work is dangerous and volunteers are putting their lives at risk,” said Dmytro Sherembey, Head of the 100% Life Coordination Council. “If we don’t get more help, I am not sure how much longer we can continue, especially reaching people in the front-line zones.” 

UNAIDS, which has released an initial US$ 200 000 in emergency funds to address urgent humanitarian and programme demands in seven cities that have large HIV epidemics (Chernihiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Kryvy Rih, Kyiv, Odesa and Poltava), has issued an urgent call to the international community for an additional US$ 2.42 million for civil society organizations providing HIV services in Ukraine and for those receiving refugees affected by HIV in other countries, as part of the wider upscaling needed.  

“Civil society organizations and communities of people living with and affected by HIV are the bedrock of the HIV response in Ukraine,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “They urgently require additional financial and logistical support to ensure the continuity of HIV treatment, care and prevention programmes. We urge all donors to be part of enabling this vital service to save lives and prevent a resurgence of the AIDS pandemic in Ukraine.”  

It is only because Ukraine’s pioneering response to HIV has been a partnership between public and community-led provision that it has been able to continue to provide for people even through the horrors of war. But the civil society networks, on whose creativity and courage the HIV services depend, require a boost in international support to ensure continued operations at the level required.  

Getting medical supplies and services to vulnerable groups of people remains extremely challenging and UNAIDS is working with humanitarian partners in Ukraine and internationally to advance urgent solutions to provide medical and humanitarian support to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians.  

The Alliance for Public Health is working to provide the emergency support needed during the conflict, using minibuses to meet pressing humanitarian needs, including the evacuation of vulnerable populations and the delivery of food and medicines. Communities on the front line of the response are making exceptional efforts to reach people. For example, mobile clinics have been deployed by the Alliance for Public Health to take opioid substitution therapy to people who use drugs in areas where facilities have been forced to close. UNAIDS is also working with the Global Fund and with a UNAIDS Cosponsor, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, to obtain additional supplies of opioid substitution therapy. 

The conflict has forced millions of Ukrainians to leave the country and thousands of Ukrainian women and children living with HIV are in need of support in host countries. Civil society networks supported by UNAIDS Cosponsors and partners are helping refugees access antiretroviral therapy in the Republic of Moldova and across the European Union.  

WHO has helped to broker a deal with the pharmaceutical company ViiV Healthcare to provide donations of HIV medicines to Czechia, Poland and other European Union countries receiving large numbers of Ukrainian refugees.  

UNAIDS is also urging the international community to help refugee accommodation centres strengthen their support for people facing the highest risks, by expanding psychosocial services, HIV treatment and prevention services, and services related to gender-based violence. A UNAIDS Cosponsor, UN Women, has said that reports of sexual abuse and human trafficking in Ukraine indicate a protection crisis. UNAIDS has warned of increased risks for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people. 

Ms Byanyima reaffirmed the United Nation’s call for an end to the war. “The biggest need is for peace”, said Ms Byanyima. “The war in Ukraine must stop—now. Recovery requires an end to this war. And even when it ends there will be so much help needed. Ukrainians living with HIV have been put in grave danger by this war. The civil society-led responder networks for HIV services who risk their lives to save lives need every possible support.” 

HIV hotline number in Ukraine: 0800 500 451. 

More support for Ukrainian refugees living with HIV can be found on the ART Initiative for Ukrainians Abroad website, which was established in coordination with Ukraine’s Public Health Center. More precise data on the whereabouts and needs of people living with HIV in Ukraine and those forced to flee the country are being collected. 

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.

DUBLIN/GENEVA, 1 March 2022—Ireland has today announced that it is increasing its core funding for UNAIDS from €2.4 million in 2021 to €2.5 million in 2022. The announcement was made at a meeting in Dublin between Ireland’s Minister for Overseas Development Aid and Diaspora, Colm Brophy, and the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Winnie Byanyima.

Ireland has been a partner and supporter of UNAIDS for more than 20 years. It has supported programmes that reduce the impact of HIV among some of the most-at-risk groups, including gay men and other men who have sex with men and young women and girls. In addition to the €2.4 million contribution in 2021, Ireland provided €1 million in support of UNAIDS’ zero discrimination agenda.

“Ireland is a strong leader in the global AIDS response and continues to be a steadfast ally to UNAIDS,” said Ms Byanyima. “This additional financial contribution from Irish Aid is an important signal at a time when the world must step up its efforts to remove laws that harm and instead create laws that empower so that people can receive life-saving and life-changing HIV services.”  

This year on Zero Discrimination Day, which is being held under the theme “Remove laws that harm, create laws that empower”, UNAIDS is highlighting the urgent need to take action against discriminatory laws. In many countries, laws result in people being treated differently, excluded from essential services or being subject to undue restrictions on how they live their lives, simply because of who they are, what they do or who they love. Such laws are discriminatory—they deny human rights and fundamental freedoms.

On Zero Discrimination Day, 1 March, we celebrate the right of everyone to live a full and productive life—and live it with dignity and free from discrimination.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

GENEVA, 19 January 2022—The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship has announced that the Director of Innovation at UNAIDS, Pradeep Kakkattil, has been awarded a 2022 Social Innovators of the Year award. Mr Kakkattil received the prestigious award for his work in creating the Health Innovation Exchange (HIEx), a platform that links innovators, governments and investors and finds solutions to global health-care problems, from COVID-19 diagnosis to the cost of medicines.

“Today, one in every two people around the world don’t have access to basic health care, which is why social innovations and technologies are so critical to scale up services and address the ever-widening inequalities in access to health care,” said Mr Kakkattil.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, innovators and communities have demonstrated the potential of human ingenuity in responding to health challenges. By bringing health system actors to work closely with innovators and communities, HIEx has been able to fast-track the adoption of innovations and facilitate investments for scaling up innovations that particularly address the needs of the most vulnerable.

“HIV and COVID-19 have shown the price the world has to pay if we ignore investing in resilient health systems,” added Mr Kakkattil. “HIEx contributes to build trust between the public and private sectors to help identify challenges and rapidly implement proven technologies and innovations to maximize health impact.”

The announcement was made on the second day of the World Economic Forum’s Davos Agenda 2022, a virtual forum bringing global leaders together to focus on shaping solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. Mr Kakkattil was among 15 Social Innovators of the Year awardees, who included a Brazilian entrepreneur using hip-hop to turn favela youth away from crime, a Dutch nurse revolutionizing home health care and a park ranger turned tech founder using Minecraft to revive Australia’s indigenous culture.

“The Social Innovators of the Year 2022 represent a new ecosystem of leaders who are driving change and shifting organizations and systems towards a more just, inclusive, sustainable future,” said Hilde Schwab, co-founder and Chairperson of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.

The foundation was created in 1998 by Klaus and Hilde Schwab to support a new model for social change, combining the values of mission, compassion and dedication with the best business principles to serve the most disadvantaged and build a better society. For the past 20 years, the foundation has supported the world’s leading social entrepreneurs in their efforts to create a more just, equitable and sustainable 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.

GENEVA, 14 December 2021—The 49th meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB), which commenced on 7 December 2021, closed on 10 December.

In her opening remarks to the meeting, the UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, thanked the Honourable Dr. Kalumbi Shangula, Minister of Health of Namibia for Namibia’s leadership as PCB chair and reflected on the foundations that have been laid over the course of the year for the future HIV response. These include the Global AIDS Strategy 2021–2026: End Inequalities, End AIDS and the new United Nations Political Declaration on AIDS and its related targets as well the UNAIDS Unified Budget Results and Accountability Framework 2022-2026. “This year, we put in place the foundations we need to end AIDS by 2030. The challenge now is to deliver on that plan,” Ms Byanyima said.

Ms Byanyima also spoke about the recent Structured Funding Dialogue convened to deepen the understanding of UNAIDS’ work and role in global health in the light of the significant shortfalls in funding that UNAIDS is experiencing.

Ms Byanyima, who began by paying tribute to the efforts of staff during this exceptionally challenging year, updated the Board on the process of implementing an organizational alignment of the UNAIDS Secretariat to ensure that it is modernized and efficient. “The new structure will bring us closer to countries and to the communities we serve, as well enable us to deliver on the strategy and help realize the transformational agenda needed to end AIDS by 2030,” she said, committing that the process would be implemented in a fair and transparent manner with support provided to staff who may be affected.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the HIV response were set out by the Executive Director. She noted that COVID-19 continues to disrupt HIV prevention and treatment services, schooling, violence prevention programmes and more, but that UNAIDS was supporting countries and partners to simplify and adapt HIV services in ways that both serve the needs of people living with HIV better and reduce unnecessary burdens on the health system.

Ms Byanyima spoke about the need to scale up access to pre-exposure prophylaxis and other HIV prevention options, which are key elements in the Global AIDS Strategy 2021–2026.

The PCB representative of the nongovernmental organization delegation addressed the Board on the key importance of scaling up work on societal enablers in the HIV response, noting the central role that communities must play to end AIDS as public health threat by 2030.

South African public health medicine specialist, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, addressed the PCB in the Leadership in the AIDS Response session. He stressed the need to scale up HIV treatment for people living with HIV and ensure that they have access to COVID-19 vaccination, since COVID-19 infections among people who are immunocompromised could lead to mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. He also strongly argued against stigma and discrimination towards people living with HIV and against blaming them for SARS-CoV-2 mutations. He stressed the importance of community engagement to end inequalities and urged participants to stay focused on ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

The PCB was given an update on HIV in prisons and other closed settings at which the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Ghada Fati Waly, spoke. The PCB called on countries to introduce and scale up evidence-based, gender-responsive and people-centred programmatic actions to ensure equal access for people in prisons and other closed settings to comprehensive and integrated HIV, tuberculosis and viral hepatitis prevention, diagnosis and treatment services.

Following on from the approval of the Unified Budget, Results and Accountability Framework (UBRAF) for 2022–2026 at a special session of the PCB in October 2021, the PCB received the outputs and indicators for the 2022–2026 UBRAF and a revised workplan for 2022–2023. Through the approval of the 2022-2023 workplan, the PCB provided the UNAIDS Joint Programme with a frame for scaling up its support to countries in implementing the Global AIDS Strategy 2021-2026. Many delegations stressed the importance of fully funding of the core UBRAF at US$ 210 million to be commensurate with the level of ambition of the Global AIDS Strategy, and some spoke to recent decisions of increased funding for the Joint Programme.

The progress on actions to reduce stigma and discrimination in all its forms, provides evidence that HIV-related stigma and discrimination remain among the major obstacles blocking the path to ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. Stigma and discrimination violate the rights and dignity of people living with or affected by HIV and result in denying them access to HIV prevention, testing and treatment services. Even in countries and regions showing strong progress towards ending their AIDS epidemics, stigma and discrimination continue to impede equitable progress. The PCB made bold calls to urgently end stigma and discrimination.

The PCB concluded with a thematic segment entitled What Does the Regional and Country-Level Data Tell Us, Are We Listening and How Can We Better Leverage that Data and Related Technology to Meet our 2020 and 2030 Goals? The segment explored how data, the bedrock of the progress against the AIDS pandemic over the past two decades, can be better collected and better used in the HIV response.

The meeting was chaired by Minister of Health of Namibia with Thailand serving as the Vice-Chair and the United States of America as Rapporteur. The report to the Board by the UNAIDS Executive Director, the reports for each agenda item and the PCB’s decisions can be found at www.unaids.org/en/whoweare/pcb/49.

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.

With millions of lives on the line, UNAIDS and WHO World AIDS Day event saw global partners, including Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, urgently call for expanded access to health treatments and technologies and for human rights to be upheld

GENEVA, 1 December 2021—On the occasion of World AIDS Day 2021, UNAIDS, the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners came together at a special event in Geneva, Switzerland, to highlight the urgent need to end the economic, social, cultural and legal inequalities that drive the AIDS pandemic and other pandemics around the world.

“We are issuing an urgent warning. Only by moving fast to end the inequalities that drive the AIDS pandemic can we overcome it,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “World leaders must work together urgently to tackle the challenges head-on. I urge you: be courageous in matching words with deeds. It is outrageous that every minute that passes, we lose a precious life to AIDS. We don’t have time to waste.”

The world is off track from delivering on the shared commitment to end AIDS by 2030. In 2020 there were 37.7 million people living with HIV, 1.5 million new HIV infections and 680 000 AIDS-related deaths. Around 65% of HIV infections globally were among key populations, including sex workers and their clients, gay men and other men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs and transgender people, and their sexual partners.

“Even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many of the populations most at risk were not being reached with HIV testing, prevention and care services,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “The pandemic has made things worse, with the disruption of essential health services, and the increased vulnerability of people with HIV to COVID-19. Like COVID-19, we have all the tools to end the AIDS epidemic, if we use them well. This World AIDS Day, we renew our call on all countries to use every tool in the toolbox to narrow inequalities, prevent HIV infections, save lives and end the AIDS epidemic.”

If the world does not tackle discrimination and inequalities, UNAIDS and WHO warn that the next decade could see 7.7 million AIDS-related deaths.

A powerful video narrated by Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, and Ms Byanyima was screened at the event demonstrating the disturbing parallels between access to HIV treatment and access to COVID-19 vaccines. Between 1997 and 2006, it is estimated that 12 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses in low- and middle-income countries as the price of medicines rendered them out of reach for many of the countries most affected by HIV. Today, 10 million people around the world still do not have access to the life-saving HIV medicines. The Duke of Sussex urged the world to learn from the history of AIDS and overcome the inequitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and to ensure that new HIV medicines and technologies are available to all.

A letter from the Duke of Sussex to WHO and UNAIDS was read out, in which he commemorated the 40 years of AIDS and expressed his gratitude for the work accomplished to date. In the letter he stressed the need for COVID-19 vaccine equity, drawing from the lessons learned from HIV.

Speakers highlighted the impact of HIV on young people. “Young people continue to be stigmatized, especially those in key populations, and inequalities continue to compromise the quality of our lives,” said Joyce Ouma, from the Global Network of Young People Living with HIV.

“Young people are the future of nations and the cornerstone of the global AIDS response,” said Anutin Charnvirakul, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health, Thailand. “Eradicating all kinds of stigma must be our full global commitment with immediate action.”

During the event, the participants commemorated the lives of the 36 million people who have died from AIDS since the start of the pandemic and highlighted the urgent need to do more for the people most affected by HIV.

The Ambassador of Namibia, Julia Imene-Chanduru, representing the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board Chair, said, “AIDS remains an emergency that we must not forget in our response to COVID-19.”

Speakers urged all countries, partners and civil society to be bold in taking forward the commitment made in the Political Declaration on AIDS adopted at the 2021 United Nations High-Level Meeting on AIDS and in the Global AIDS Strategy 2021–2026: End Inequalities, End AIDS, both having ending inequalities at their core.

“We can see the importance of UNAIDS’ strategy, with an emphasis on ending inequalities,” said Stephanie Seydoux, French Ambassador for Global Health. “This is what allows us to make progress in the fight against this pandemic, and to ensure health for everyone.”

“We know how to beat AIDS and we know how to beat pandemics,” added Ms Byanyima. “The policies to address the inequalities standing in the way of progress can be implemented, but they require leaders to step up and be bold.”

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, 29 November 2021—UNAIDS issued a stark warning today that if leaders fail to tackle inequalities the world could face 7.7 million* AIDS-related deaths over the next 10 years. UNAIDS further warns 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.

“This is an urgent call to action,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima. “Progress against the AIDS pandemic, which was already off track, is now under even greater strain as the COVID-19 crisis continues to rage, disrupting HIV prevention and treatment services, schooling, violence-prevention programmes and more. We cannot be forced to choose between ending the AIDS pandemic today and preparing for the pandemics of tomorrow. The only successful approach will achieve both. As of now, we are not on track to achieve either.”

The warning comes in a new report by UNAIDS launched ahead of World AIDS Day (1 December) entitled Unequal, unprepared, under threat: why bold action against inequalities is needed to end AIDS, stop COVID-19 and prepare for future pandemics.

Some countries, including some with the highest rates of HIV, have made remarkable progress against AIDS, illustrating what is feasible. However, new HIV infections are not falling fast enough globally to stop the pandemic, with 1.5 million new HIV infections in 2020 and growing HIV infection rates in some countries. Infections are also following lines of inequality. Six in seven new HIV infections among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa are occurring among adolescent girls. Gay men and other men who have sex with men, sex workers and people who use drugs face a 25–35 times greater risk of acquiring HIV worldwide.

COVID-19 is undercutting the AIDS response in many places. The pace of HIV testing declined almost uniformly and fewer people living with HIV initiated treatment in 2020 in 40 of 50 countries reporting to UNAIDS. HIV prevention services have been impacted—in 2020, harm reduction services for people who use drugs were disrupted in 65% of 130 countries surveyed.

“It is still possible to end the epidemic by 2030,” affirmed United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres in his World AIDS Day message. “But that will require stepped up action and greater solidarity. To beat AIDS—and build resilience against the pandemics of tomorrow—we need collective action.”

This new report from UNAIDS examines five critical elements of the plan agreed by Member States at the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AIDS that must be urgently implemented to halt the AIDS pandemic and which are critical but under-funded and under-prioritized for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. These include:

• Community-led and community-based infrastructure.
• Equitable access to medicines, vaccines and health technologies.
• Supporting workers on the pandemic front lines.
• Human rights at the centre of pandemic responses.
• People-centred data systems that highlight inequalities. 

The call for upscaled investments and shifts in laws and policies to end the inequalities that drive AIDS and other pandemics is backed by leaders in global health and pandemic response from across the world.

“If ​​we do not take the steps needed to tackle the inequalities driving HIV today, not only will we fail to end the AIDS pandemic, we will also leave our world dangerously unprepared for future pandemics,” said Helen Clark, Co-Chair of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, in a special foreword to the UNAIDS report. “Pandemics find space to grow in the fractures of divided societies. The amazing scientists, doctors, nurses and communities who work to end pandemics cannot succeed unless world leaders take the steps that will enable them to do so.”

UNAIDS and global health experts emphasize that while business as usual would kill millions and leave the world trapped with colliding pandemics going on for decades, leaders can, by acting boldly and together to tackle the inequalities in which pandemics thrive, end AIDS, overcome the COVID-19 crisis and be protected from the pandemic threats of the future.

“Pathogens ranging from HIV to the virus behind COVID-19 invade the cracks and fissures in our society with startling opportunism,” said Paul Farmer of Partners in Health, a nonprofit that for decades has effectively treated AIDS in settings of material poverty. “That the AIDS pandemic is shaped by deep structural inequalities need not resign us to inaction, however. Our teams, in rural Haiti and across the world, have routinely shown that with comprehensive care delivery, robust forms of accompaniment and social support and a larger dose of social justice, disparities in HIV outcomes can be rapidly narrowed, and health systems swiftly strengthened. We shouldn’t settle for anything less.” 

This year marks 40 years since the first cases of AIDS were reported. Since that time, where investments have met ambition, there has been huge progress, particularly in expanding access to treatment. By June 2021, 28.2 million people had access to HIV treatment, up from 7.8 million in 2010, although progress has slowed considerably.

Countries with laws and policies aligned to evidence, strong community engagement and participation and robust and inclusive health systems have had the best outcomes, whereas the regions with the largest resource gaps and countries with punitive laws and that have not taken a rights-based approach to health have fared the worst.

“We know what works from seeing brilliant AIDS responses in some places,” said Ms Byanyima, “but we need to apply that everywhere for everyone. We have an effective strategy that leaders adopted this year, but it needs to be implemented in full. Ending inequalities to end AIDS is a political choice that requires bold policy reforms and requires money. We have reached a fork in the road. The choice for leaders to make is between bold action and half-measures.”

* The estimate of 7.7 million AIDS-related deaths between 2021 and 2030 is what UNAIDS models predict if HIV service coverage is held constant at 2019 levels. If the Global AIDS Strategy 2021–2026: End Inequalities, End AIDS is executed and the 2025 targets are achieved, UNAIDS estimates that at least 4.6 million of those deaths can be averted over the decade.

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, 19 November 2021—Having experienced major shortfalls in funding since 2015, UNAIDS convened donors, partners and Programme Coordinating Board members in Geneva, Switzerland, for a dialogue to help bolster UNAIDS’ efforts in supporting countries to end AIDS by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals.

During the meeting, held on 15 November 2021, UNAIDS warned that despite a growing number of countries demonstrating the feasibility of ending AIDS as a public health threat, the global HIV response is faltering, resulting in a slowing decline in new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths. Around 1.5 million people became newly infected with HIV in 2020, and every 60 seconds someone died of an AIDS-related illness. Without an immediate course correction and renewed momentum, UNAIDS fears that hopes for reaching the 2030 target of ending AIDS could vanish.

“As we move into the next phase of the AIDS response, the risk of political neglect increases as the epidemic concentrates among the most marginalized, discriminated against and criminalized—key populations and adolescent girls and young women,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “The Joint Programme is needed now more than ever.”

The meeting was held to deepen the understanding of the work of UNAIDS and its critical role in global health. Speakers highlighted that since its inception in 1996, UNAIDS has brought unique value to the global AIDS response, leveraging the combined strengths of the United Nations system, leading efforts to expand access to HIV prevention, treatment and care services, increasing global resources for HIV, building political commitment and collecting data to build evidence-informed responses.

The Chair of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board demonstrated how UNAIDS’ support has adapted to and been critical in the COVID-19 crisis. “In Namibia, we have seen very clearly the contribution of UNAIDS during this very difficult past year as we experienced an exponential increase in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths,” said Julia Imene-Chanduru, representing the Chair of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board. “Our health system was severely overstretched. During this time, UNAIDS supported Namibia to ensure the continuity of treatment for people living with HIV by supporting us to move to multimonth dispensing of antiretroviral treatment and assisting us in strengthening community engagement for COVID-19 and HIV.”

Speakers emphasized that UNAIDS has also been instrumental in tackling stigma and discrimination and fighting for equality and human rights. Overall, these unique, essential contributions from UNAIDS account for less than 1% of all funding available for HIV activities in low- and middle-income countries.

“Our health is a bedrock not only for life itself, but it is essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. “UNAIDS is smart and brings transformative action to life. Of the total global funding for HIV, the 1% that UNAIDS represents helps leverage billions more. I urge you to continue to increase your contributions to this organization and support its incredible life-saving work.”

Since 2015, UNAIDS has experienced severe shortfalls in funding. For 2020 and 2021, UNAIDS had an approved annual budget of US$ 242 million. In 2020, UNAIDS raised US$ 194.1 million, but is expected to raise only US$ 165 million in 2021. The meeting provided an opportunity to deepen the understanding of donors of the work of UNAIDS and warned of the cost of inaction or insufficient funding.

“Our current funding situation limits what is possible and what can be made possible,” said Ms Byanyima. “It is time to invest. It is time to match our political ambition and equip all our stakeholders to drive the response forward and help realize the human right to health for all.”

“It is our responsibility as the Joint Programme to put AIDS back on the development agenda. But not only with the speeches but also with budgets. The call of the nongovernmental organization delegation is that we want a fully funded UBRAF. We want a fully funded UNAIDS and fully funded AIDS response,” said Gracia Violeta Ross Quiroga, National Chair of the Bolivian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (REDBOL).

UNAIDS urges donors and partners to create momentum around potential opportunities and mutual commitments relating to funding UNAIDS and the AIDS response, including prioritizing resource allocation and priority-setting. UNAIDS urges donors to ensure adequate, predictable and flexible funding for UNAIDS through multi-year agreements for core and non-core funding to fully support UNAIDS’ efforts to end AIDS by 2030.

“We reiterate calls that have been made today by the Secretariat and Cosponsors for funding to be predictable and sustained in order to enable the Joint Programme to deliver on our common goals. Kenya remains committed to supporting this process and stands ready to engage in any subsequent discussions,” said Peace Mutuma, Health Attaché, Permanent Mission of Kenya to the United Nations in Geneva.

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.

Brazzaville, Geneva, Nairobi, 2 December 2021 – Botswana has become the first high-burden country to be certified for achieving an important milestone on the path to eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV by the World Health Organization (WHO).

High-burden HIV countries are defined as those with more than 2% of pregnant women living with the virus. Botswana has achieved the “silver tier” status, which moves it closer to eliminating mother-to-child HIV transmission. WHO awards this certification to countries which have brought the mother-to-child HIV transmission rate to under 5 %; provided antenatal care and antiretroviral treatment to more than 90 % of pregnant women; and achieved an HIV case rate of fewer than 500 per 100,000 live births.

“This is a huge accomplishment for a country that has one of the most severe HIV epidemics in the world – Botswana demonstrates that an AIDS-free generation is possible,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “This groundbreaking milestone is a big step forward in ending AIDS on the continent and shows how visionary political leadership aligned with public health priorities can save lives. I look forward to other African countries also reaching this goal.”

Globally, 15 countries have been certified for eliminating mother-to-child HIV transmission. None of them had an epidemic as large as Botswana. The country’s feat to date on its journey to elimination is the result of a national response strategy spanning two decades. In 1999 and facing an HIV prevalence rate as high as 30%, Botswana initiated an aggressive programme to prevent mother-to-child transmission.

“Botswana’s pathfinding accomplishment demonstrates the remarkable progress that can be achieved when the needs of mothers living with HIV and their children are prioritized,” said Winnie Byanyima, UNAIDS Executive Director. “Children are among the groups left furthest behind in the HIV response. Addressing this inequality and preventing new HIV infections in children is critical if we are to end AIDS. Political commitment, strong leadership and the hard work of dedicated health care workers and communities in Botswana have delivered impressive results.”

Women living with HIV who do not receive antiretroviral (ARV) medicine have a 15–45% chance of transmitting the virus to their children during pregnancy, labour, delivery or breastfeeding. That risk drops to less than 5% if treatment is given to both mothers and children throughout the stages when transmission can occur. Botswana quickly achieved national ARV coverage before going on to implement increasingly effective regimens, following WHO guidance.

In 2013, Botswana became one of the first countries in the world to implement the so-called ‘Option B+’, a plan for treating all pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV with a highly effective lifelong triple antiretroviral treatment regimen at the time of diagnosis.

Mohamed Fall, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, asserted that the country’s progress could serve as an example for others.

“We applaud Botswana for this remarkable achievement, which serves as inspiration to other countries in Eastern and Southern Africa,” said Mr Fall. “The progress on prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV in this region is truly a public health success, with more than 1.7 million new infections in children averted since 2010. We look forward to congratulating other countries very soon and continuing the journey to full and sustained elimination over time.”

The global validation criteria and processes date to 2015, when UNAIDS, UNICEF, WHO and other partners created the Global Validation Advisory Committee to standardize the measurement of achievements for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. In 2017 and in recognition of the achievements made by countries with a high burden of HIV that were demonstrating significant and sustained reductions in the mother-to-child transmission rate, new Path to Elimination criteria were introduced. The elimination agenda has broadened to a “triple elimination” of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B.

Botswana is now updating its guidance regarding syphilis and will expand its elimination objectives moving forward.

Please click the link below for audio-visual material: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1s9cONZBU2rkZtRZrpRGRXED2AJj5_3Yc?usp=sharing

UNICEF

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. For more information about UNICEF and its work for children, visit www.unicef.org. Follow UNICEF on Twitter and Facebook

WHO

The World Health Organization contributes to a better future for people everywhere. Good health lays the foundation for vibrant and productive communities, stronger economies, safer nations and a better world. As the lead health authority within the United Nations system, our work touches people’s lives around the world every day. In Africa, WHO serves 47 Member States and works with development partners to improve the health and well-being of all people living here. The WHO Regional Office for Africa is located in Brazzaville, Congo. Learn more at www.afro.who.int and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

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 President of Senegal, Macky Sall, pledges an additional $3.5 million to support the HIV response and the call for action

DAKAR/GENEVA, 3 November 2021—A three-day regional summit on HIV/AIDS held in Dakar, Senegal, has concluded with a call to action that urges stronger support for community-led responses, policies driven by science and data, increased investment in the HIV response and putting HIV at the centre of pandemic preparedness and response. In his closing remarks, the President of Senegal, Macky Sall, committed to advancing the call to action with the African Union and pledged additional funds to implement it in Senegal and across the region. 

Western and Central Africa is home to 4.7 million people living with HIV—12% of those living with HIV globally—but experiences 22% of all HIV deaths in the world. Countries in the region, on average, have seen slower declines in HIV infections than other countries on the continent and HIV prevalence in women is significantly higher than in men. Access to HIV testing and treatment reached 73% of people living with HIV in 2020, up from 38% in 2015, but short of the 81% goal that was set for 2020. The region has the world’s highest number of HIV-positive pregnant women still waiting for treatment, and just 24% of children living with HIV were virally suppressed.

The Dakar Call to Reinvent the Response to the HIV Pandemic calls for urgent action in four main areas:  

1. Expand community-led infrastructure and organizations to strengthen national systems for health and shift policies to enable sustained funding for community organizations. Too many of the most vulnerable people in Western and Central Africa region do not have access to conventional health systems. Evidence shows community-led organizations and networks are critical to filling the gaps. This includes expanding the provision of HIV treatment and prevention services by community-led organizations in partnership with the public health system, ensuring that organized civil society and affected communities are included as key partners in decision-making bodies, and building accountability structures such as community-led monitoring.

2. Update health policies to align with the latest HIV science and evidence. Countries that have aligned their HIV policies and programmes with the current science have made greater progress against HIV/AIDS. Governments are urged to review their health policies in consideration of the latest scientific data and evidence. This is as a key step to improve the HIV response, and particularly to address the needs of those most vulnerable to HIV.

3. Increase national and international resources for HIV in the region by 33% by 2025 and remove financial barriers to access health services by people living with HIV. UNAIDS studies show that $2.67 billion by 2025, representing a 33% increase, would ensure sufficient funding for a comprehensive response to HIV in the region. Insufficient progress in the response to the HIV pandemic is only increasing the long-term costs that will strain already overburdened health budgets.

4. Put HIV and COVID-19 at the centre of pandemic preparedness and response. Many of the measures needed to accelerate the HIV response will also help prevent future pandemics.  These measures include strengthening and protecting the formal and informal health workforce, collecting quality epidemic data to inform decision-making, implementing rights-based responses, and ensuring equitable access to new medical technologies.

These four actions are achievable in the next three years and would move the region closer to the 2025 global target of 95% of people knowing their HIV status; 95% of people who know their HIV status initiating treatment; 95% of people on treatment being virally suppressed. They would contribute to a dramatic reduction in the number of AIDS-related deaths and new HIV infections in the region.

Western and Central Africa has been at the forefront of some of the most innovative and successful efforts in the global response to HIV. Ending the AIDS epidemic as part of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda remains a priority even though the region faces multiple challenges including the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous economic and security crises, and climate change.  

During the summit governments, civil society actors, community-led organizations, scientists, and other partners reviewed new data and progress against HIV in the last 5 years and took note of the new UNAIDS Global AIDS Strategy 2021-2026 and the United Nations General Assembly Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS: Ending Inequalities and Getting on Track to End AIDS by 2030. The summit was co-organized by UNAIDS and the Civil Society Institute of HIV and Health in Western and Central Africa and hosted by the President of Senegal, Macky Sall. It was held with the support of Luxembourg and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Quotes

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, 7 October 2021—The UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) has approved, at a special session, the Unified Budget, Results and Accountability Framework (UBRAF) for 2022–2026 and the UNAIDS budget for 2022 and 2023. The approved budget is set at up to a threshold of US$ 210 million per year.

“We must prevent a resurgent AIDS crisis. COVID-19 lockdowns and other restrictions have badly disrupted the use of HIV prevention services, access to HIV testing, and in many countries this led to steep drops in HIV diagnoses, referrals to care services, the initiation of HIV treatment and limitation in access to viral load testing. This is of great concern. That’s why approval of the UBRAF is so important,” said Winnie Byanyima, UNAIDS Executive Director, at the opening of the special session.

The UBRAF is the overall framework for the collective contribution of the UNAIDS Joint Programme to the global HIV response. It is the framework for leveraging the advantages, strengths and mandates of the 11 UNAIDS Cosponsors and the Secretariat for the full and effective implementation of the Global AIDS Strategy 2021–2026: End Inequalities, End AIDS, placing people and communities at the centre and in strong partnership with other stakeholders.

Under the new UBRAF, from 2022 to 2026 the Joint Programme will:

• Maximize its global leadership and advocacy.
• Create and promote the distribution of global public goods that are critical to ending AIDS.
• Support countries and communities through coordinated technical guidance and support.
• Facilitate and support strategic information and knowledge-sharing.
• Convene and facilitate multistakeholder dialogues to achieve enabling environments and leverage inclusive partnerships and investments to close programmatic and policy gaps for greater accountability, efficiencies and impact.

Areas of intensified focus and investment under the UBRAF are to:

• Tackle inequalities in order to ensure equitable access to services for HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.
• Foster leadership and support for innovative approaches to achieve more inclusive HIV services.
• Benefit from scaled-up HIV combination prevention and testing and treatment, with a focus on closing service gaps among those who are the furthest left behind.
• Champion the empowerment and resourcing of communities for stronger community-led responses that lead scaled-up service delivery and respond to needs.
• Strengthen societal enablers through more robust social, institutional and structural capacities of countries and communities for social protection, establishing and strengthening enabling legal environments, successfully eliminating stigma and discrimination and reaching gender equality in the HIV response.
• Advance the increased availability and financing of sustainable systems to achieve the 2025 HIV targets.

“Thank you for approving the framework and the budget. I took note and am encouraged by the clear requests and support by Board members for a fully funded UBRAF at US$ 210 million to help the Joint Programme deliver transformative and life-saving work towards the goals in the Global AIDS Strategy 2021–2026,” added Ms Byanyima at the session’s closing.

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.