DAKAR/GENEVA, 16 January 2019—At a high-level meeting in Dakar, Senegal, UNAIDS, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) urged countries in western and central Africa to do more to stop new HIV infections among children and adolescents and increase HIV testing and treatment coverage.

In 2017, around 67 000 children (aged 0–9 years) and 69 000 adolescents (aged 10–19 years) became newly infected with HIV. Two thirds (46 000) of adolescents newly infected with the virus were girls. While progress has been seen in stopping new HIV infections among children in some countries—eleven countries registered a reduction of more than 35% between 2010 and 2017[1]—others, including Nigeria, which has the largest epidemic in the region, experienced no declines at all.

“Countries in western and central Africa have a real opportunity to create a positive change for children and young people,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Underlying issues including a lack of domestic investment, fragile health systems, user fees, gender inequality and widespread stigma and discrimination must urgently be addressed to remove barriers and save lives.”

In western and central Africa, close to 800 000 children and adolescents aged between 0 and 19 years were living with HIV in 2017—the second highest number in the world after eastern and southern Africa.

“The majority of children living with HIV in this region are not receiving care and treatment because they do not know they have HIV as they have not been tested,” said Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa. “We can reverse that trend by focusing on a family-centered approach to HIV testing and treatment and by rolling out innovative point-of-care technologies that bring testing closer to the primary health facilities and the communities where children live.”

Less than half of all pregnant women living with HIV in the region (47%) had access to antiretroviral medicines to prevent transmission of the virus to their child and only 21% of infants exposed to HIV were tested for the virus within the first two months of life.

We should not lose anymore of Africa’s future to AIDS,” said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “Effectively tackling HIV in children and adolescents needs strong and quality health services. By committing to universal health coverage, countries can fast-track progress towards an AIDS-free generation in western and central Africa.”

Although there has been some progress in antiretroviral therapy coverage for children in western and central Africa, which rose from 18% in 2014 to 26% in 2017, the region still has the lowest coverage in the world. Around 52 000 children and adolescents aged between 0 and 19 years died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2017—34 000 of whom died before they reached their fifth birthday.

In the 2016 United Nations General Assembly Political Declaration on Ending AIDS, countries from western and central Africa committed to work towards reducing the number of new HIV infections among children and young adolescents (under 15 years) to 6000 by 2020 and to ensuring access to treatment for 340 000 children and young adolescents (under 15 years) by 2020.

However, pledges to accelerate the HIV response have not been accompanied by a surge in resource mobilization. The total resources needed for an effective response in western and central Africa were 81% greater than the funds available in 2017.

Translating commitments into action requires engagement from political and community leaders, drastically scaling up investments, scaling up innovative technologies such as point-of-care for early infant diagnosis, differentiated service delivery strategies—including family testing and longer prescriptions for antiretroviral medicines—and task-shifting approaches applied to HIV care and treatment services for children across the region.

As part of concerted efforts to step up progress in the region, UNAIDS, UNICEF and WHO called a High-Level Meeting on the Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV and Universal Health Coverage of Paediatric HIV Testing and Treatment in West and Central Africa to unpack the challenges, share best practices and innovative approaches to address the persisting bottlenecks, agree on corrective actions and ensure commitment to action from countries and partners.

Hosted by the Government of Senegal, the meeting is being held in Dakar from 16 to 18 January 2019, bringing together ministers of health, experts, representatives of civil society and partners from across the region as well as high-level representatives of United Nations organizations, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States and the Economic Community of Central African States.

During the meeting, countries and partners are expected to renew their commitment to the 2015 Dakar Call to Action for Accelerating the Elimination of New HIV Infections in Children and Access to Treatment for Children and Adolescents Living with HIV by 2020.

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, 13 December 2018—The UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) has called on UNAIDS to fully implement the management response (UNAIDS agenda for change) to address harassment, including sexual harassment, bullying and abuse of power, at the UNAIDS Secretariat which was presented to Board members by the Executive Director of UNAIDS on Tuesday 11 December.

The decision was agreed by the members of the PCB at the conclusion of the 43rd meeting of the PCB in Geneva, Switzerland, today. The PCB agreed to establish a working group to oversee the immediate implementation of the management response and to discuss the report of the Independent Expert Panel in a special PCB meeting before March 2019. The PCB also welcomed the statement of the UNAIDS Secretariat Staff Association and the critical role they played in bringing to the PCB’s attention the issue of harassment at the workplace.

“We don’t have a moment to lose in moving forward our management response. Our actions will make UNAIDS stronger and better,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “I look forward to working with all staff to make UNAIDS a model workplace for staff in all their diversity. I look forward to an inclusive, transparent and open dialogue and collaboration with staff in shaping a new UNAIDS.”

The Executive Director of UNAIDS also told the PCB that he wanted to have an orderly transition of leadership at UNAIDS in the final year of his term. He informed the UNAIDS Board that its meeting in June 2019 would be his last Board meeting and he would complete his duties at the end of June 2019.

“I am proud of the successes of UNAIDS. In the past 10 years we have been instrumental in saving millions of lives and averting millions of new HIV infections. The staff of UNAIDS are our greatest asset and I am privileged to serve alongside them,” said Mr Sidibé. “I will work to ensure a smooth transition and pledge to keep my focus on our staff and delivering results for the people we serve."

UNAIDS’ agenda for change will be critical in ensuring that the staff of UNAIDS can continue to build on these successes and deliver maximum results for people living with and affected by HIV. It focuses on five action areas: a staff-centred approach, compliance and standards, leadership and governance, management and capacity. Each area outlines key actions that the UNAIDS Secretariat will undertake.

UNAIDS reiterates its commitment to lead by example in eliminating all forms of harassment, bullying and abuse of power by creating a respectful, transparent and accountable environment that enables all staff to contribute their full potential to deliver for the people they serve.

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.

UNAIDS outlines five key components for action that build on recommendations made by an Independent Expert Panel

GENEVA, 7 December 2018—UNAIDS is putting in place an agenda for change to transform UNAIDS into a model working environment for all staff that ensures safety and inclusivity and upholds the highest standards of accountability and integrity. The agenda underscores that harassment, including sexual harassment, bullying and abuse of power at any level, will not be tolerated and that perpetrators will be held accountable for their actions.

The agenda is based on a survivor-centred approach to harassment and will ensure that all staff are trained, equipped and supported to call out incivility, sexism, intolerance and other undesirable and unacceptable behaviours. It will strengthen management systems to fit the demands of a decentralized organization and ensure that decision-making happens at the right levels, with full transparency and internal controls for compliance with policies and standards.

The agenda builds on a strong body of work already under way to create a model working environment and draws on recommendations made by an Independent Expert Panel. The Panel was called for by the Executive Director of UNAIDS in February 2018 to provide recommendations on how to further strengthen the implementation of UNAIDS’ zero tolerance policy on sexual harassment.

The Panel’s recommendations and the UNAIDS Secretariat management response and agenda for change will be presented to the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board on the first day of its 43rd meeting, which will take place from 11 to 13 December 2018.

“Driven by the AIDS crisis, UNAIDS has been a model for harmonized, system-wide efforts in the United Nations. Today, inspired by the #MeToo movement, we aim to be a model workplace, for the United Nations system and beyond,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Staff are our main asset and they must be able to perform their functions in a safe, enabling and nurturing environment. This transformation will ensure that we can attract the greatest talent and further empower our staff to deliver on our crucial mandate.”

The agenda for change focuses on five key action areas: a staff-centred approach, compliance and standards, leadership and governance, management and capacity. Each area outlines a set of actions the UNAIDS Secretariat will undertake.

In line with its staff-centred approach, the agenda for change will include active bystander training to ensure that everyone in UNAIDS feels equipped and supported to call out incivility, sexism, intolerance and other undesirable and unacceptable behaviours. It will also establish mechanisms for confidential referral to survivor-centred counselling, expand the cadres of Dignity at Work Advisers and provide skills-building for all staff on preventing and addressing harassment, ethics and integrity, knowing your rights at work, diversity and inclusion.

A key component is the recommendation by the Panel to establish an external and independent investigation, disciplinary and redressal system, and UNAIDS will work with stakeholders, including survivors and women’s rights experts, to examine options to take this forward.

UNAIDS will be strengthening its senior management capacity by implementing a new process for the selection of UNAIDS Country Director positions, which it will look to expand to all other senior director-level appointments. This will ensure that UNAIDS’ leaders have the right mix of skills and experience to manage staff as well as skills and experience in technical areas.

In addition, UNAIDS will be implementing a 360-degree feedback mechanism in management appraisals for director-level staff to assess competency in managing people and resources and to detect signals of mismanagement and unacceptable behaviours.

To continue to show greater transparency, UNAIDS will publish reports on disciplinary and accountability actions taken and will proactively refer cases of suspected sexual harassment, harassment, bullying and abuse of power.

UNAIDS will also continue to drive implementation of the United Nations System-Wide Action Plan on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, as well as the updated Gender Action Plan, to build on the significant achievements made in recent years and advance progress towards the new, far-reaching targets set by UNAIDS.

In its findings, the Panel made observations about the UNAIDS leadership and called for change. “I have taken on board the criticisms made by the Panel,” said Mr Sidibé. “In proposing this agenda, I am confident that we can focus on moving forward. I will spend the next 12 months implementing this agenda for change and making the UNAIDS workplace one where everyone feels safe and included.”

The report also highlights that the global AIDS response has witnessed major successes under the leadership of Mr Sidibé. His call for the elimination of new HIV infections among children galvanized action, and significant reductions in new HIV infections have been achieved in all parts of world. Eleven countries have already eliminated new HIV infections among children.

Similarly, during this period, the UNAIDS 90–90–90 targets have propelled a major movement for HIV treatment access. Today, more than 21.7 million people are accessing life-saving antiretroviral therapy, compared to just over 5 million at the end of 2008.

UNAIDS has actively supported civil society engagement, championed human rights, and advocated for the rights of sex workers, gay men and other men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs, transgender men and women, prisoners and migrants to access HIV services. The Executive Director has made the rights of women and girls a priority, including access to sexual and reproductive health services, eliminating gender-based violence and removing harmful gender norms.

Today there is greater freedom of movement for people living with HIV as UNAIDS has worked with countries to remove travel restrictions. HIV and health issues have been kept at the top of political agendas. UNAIDS pioneered the concept of global solidarity and shared responsibility, and today more than half of all resources invested in low- and middle-income countries come from domestic sources. UNAIDS’ agenda for change will be critical in ensuring that UNAIDS staff can continue to contribute to these extraordinary results.

UNAIDS is resolute in its commitment to lead by example in eliminating all forms of harassment, bullying and abuse of power at UNAIDS by creating a respectful, transparent and accountable environment that enables all staff to contribute their full potential to deliver for the people they serve.

Report of the Independent Expert Panel on prevention of and response to harassment, including sexual harassment, bullying and abuse of power at UNAIDS Secretariat:

http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/documents/2018/report-iep

Transforming UNAIDS, an agenda for eliminating all forms of harassment and upholding dignity, accountability and well-being in the workplace. UNAIDS management response to the Independent Expert Panel report

http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/documents/2018/management-response-to-iep-report

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.

Report also calls for increased efforts to reach the 9.4 million people living with HIV who are not aware that they are living with the virus and the estimated 19.4 million people living with HIV who do not have a suppressed viral load

ABIDJAN/GENEVA, 22 November 2018—A new report from UNAIDS shows that intensified HIV testing and treatment efforts are reaching more people living with HIV. In 2017, three quarters of people living with HIV (75%) knew their HIV status, compared to just two thirds (67%) in 2015, and 21.7 million people living with HIV (59%) had access to antiretroviral therapy, up from 17.2 million in 2015. The report shows, however, that 9.4 million people living with HIV do not know they are living with the virus and urgently need to be linked to HIV testing and treatment services.

The report, Knowledge is power, reveals that although the number of people living with HIV who are virally suppressed has risen by around 10 percentage points in the past three years, reaching 47% in 2017, 19.4 million people living with HIV still do not have a suppressed viral load. To remain healthy and to prevent transmission, the virus needs to be suppressed to undetectable or very low levels through sustained antiretroviral therapy. And to effectively monitor viral load, people living with HIV need access to viral load testing every 12 months.

“Viral load testing is the gold standard in HIV treatment monitoring,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “It shows that treatment is working, keeping people alive and well and keeping the virus firmly under control.”

The report outlines that access to viral load testing is mixed. In some parts of the world, getting a viral load test is easy and is fully integrated into a person’s HIV treatment regime, but in other places there may be only one viral load machine for the entire country.

World AIDS Day 2018 message by UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé

“Viral load monitoring needs to be as available in Lilongwe as it is in London,” said Mr Sidibé. “HIV testing and viral load testing should be equal and accessible to all people living with HIV, without exception.”

In Côte d’Ivoire, the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is supporting a national scale-up plan for viral load testing. In just three years, as the number of people on treatment doubled, 10 additional laboratories began viral load testing. Subsequently, viral load testing coverage increased from 14% in 2015 to 66% in 2017 and is projected to reach 75% by the end of 2018.

“This year's UNAIDS theme for World AIDS Day (Live life positively—know your HIV status) reiterates the fact that HIV testing remains the only way to know your status and to adopt a healthy life plan,” said Eugène Aka Aouele, Minister of Health and Public Hygiene, Côte d’Ivoire.

Children and HIV and viral load testing

Viral load testing is particularly important for newborns, as HIV progresses much faster in children—peak mortality for children born with HIV is within two or three months of life. Standard rapid diagnostic testing is ineffective up until 18 months of age, so the only viable test for HIV for very young children is a virological test, which they need to receive within the first four to six weeks of life. However, in 2017, only half (52%) of children exposed to HIV in high-burden countries received a test within the first two months of life.

Important advances are being made. New point-of-care testing technologies—testing that takes place in an environment as close to the person as possible—have been shown to shorten the time it takes to return children’s test results from months to minutes, which is saving lives.

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The persistent barriers to knowing one’s status

The report shows that one of the biggest barriers to HIV testing is stigma and discrimination. Studies among women, men, young people and key populations have revealed that fear of being seen accessing HIV services, and if the person is diagnosed, fear that this information will be shared with family, friends, sexual partners or the wider community, was preventing them from accessing HIV services, including HIV testing.

For key populations—gay men and other men who have sex with men, transgender people, sex workers, people who use drugs, people in prisons and other closed settings and migrants—these barriers can affect access to an even greater extent. Stigma and discrimination, from society and health services, can deter members of key populations from accessing health care, while criminal laws can compound that discrimination, increase rates of violence and create additional barriers, including fear of arrest and harassment.

“In Côte d'Ivoire, HIV prevalence among sex workers is 11% and 13% for men who have sex with men and 9.2% for people who inject drugs,” said Pélagie Kouamé, President of the Network of Key Populations in Côte d’Ivoire. “We cannot leave key populations behind. Things must change and evolve so that we can come out from the shadows and no longer live in fear.”

Other barriers include violence or the threat of violence, especially among young women and girls. Parental consent laws and policies are also a barrier, since in some countries young people under the age of 18 years need parental consent to take an HIV test. In addition, services are often too far away and difficult to access or too expensive. There can also be delays or failures in returning HIV test results and delays in treatment initiation. In some countries, people do not seek HIV testing as they feel they are not at risk—in Malawi, one study found that among adolescent girls and young women (aged between 15 years and 24 years), considered to be at higher risk of HIV, more than half (52%) did not consider themselves at risk of HIV and so were unlikely to seek HIV testing services.

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Next generation of testing options

The report highlights how providing a variety of testing options and services, such as community-based testing and home-based testing, can help mitigate many of the logistical, structural and social barriers to HIV testing. They offer testing options for people who live far away from health services, do not have the constraints of inconvenient opening hours, which is particularly important for men and people from key populations, and do not come with the stigma and discrimination often perceived in traditional health and HIV services.

“We cannot not wait for people to become sick,” said Imam Harouna Koné, President of the Platform of Networks in the Fight Against AIDS. “We must go out to our communities and offer HIV testing and treatment services.”

The report outlines the importance of taking a five Cs approach: consent, confidentiality, counselling, correct test results and connection/linkage to prevention, care and treatment. “There isn’t a one size fits all approach to HIV testing,” said Mr Sidibé. “There are a number of different strategies needed to reach people at risk of HIV, including innovative approaches such as self-testing, where people may feel more comfortable that their privacy is respected.”

Another important step to take is to integrate HIV testing services within other health services, including maternal and child health services, services for tuberculosis and services for sexually transmitted infections and viral hepatitis. Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death of people living with HIV, accounting for one in three AIDS-related deaths; however, it is estimated that 49% of people living with HIV and tuberculosis are unaware of their coinfection and are therefore not receiving care.

Access to HIV testing is a basic human right, and UNAIDS is calling for a global commitment to remove the barriers preventing people from testing for HIV, which include eliminating HIV-related stigma and discrimination, ensuring confidentiality in HIV testing and treatment services, deploying an optimal mix of HIV testing strategies to reach the populations most in need, integration with other health services, removing policy and legal barriers hindering access to HIV testing and treatment, expanding access to viral load monitoring in low- and middle-income countries and ensuring access to early infant diagnosis for newborns.

The report demonstrates that implementing these measures will hugely advance progress towards ensuring that all people living with and affected by HIV have access to the life-saving services they need. 

In 2017 an estimated:

• 36.9 million [31.1 million–43.9 million] people globally were living with HIV
• 21.7 million [19.1 million–22.6 million] people were accessing treatment
• 1.8 million [1.4 million–2.4 million] people became newly infected with HIV
• 940 000 [670 000–1.3 million] people died from AIDS-related illnesses

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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.

360HIV harnesses the power of immersive technology to reach young people

GENEVA, 19 November 2018—Ahead of World AIDS Day, which takes place on 1 December, UNAIDS is releasing a series of virtual reality (VR) films focused on HIV testing.

Using the latest technology, the films help to demystify HIV testing. With goggles that viewers can wear for a full VR experience, the aim is to reach young people who may want to know their HIV status but are afraid or worried about taking an HIV test.

In the films, a group of talented young people re-enact several scenarios of a young woman’s journey to find out her HIV status. Going from her home to a local health clinic, the films allow viewers to explore different settings through a 360-degree experience.  

Makhulu Media, a South African production company produced the VR films, with guidance from UNAIDS and the support of Google, the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation and the Children's Radio Foundation, which were filmed entirely in the township of Nyanga, near Cape Town, South Africa.

“HIV is preventable and treatable but too few young people know their status,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. “We hope that this highly engaging tool will help to dispel fears and show the simple steps that people can take to find out their HIV status.”

At the beginning of the project, Makhulu Media organized workshops with young people to discuss their knowledge of HIV, to share their interactions with health-care providers and to describe their experiences while visiting clinics. The next step involved filming non-actors re-enacting scenes between patients and health-care workers. The short films address the fear of a positive test result and HIV-related stigma.

“We wanted to see if immersive virtual reality films could encourage people to take an HIV test and improve relationships between nurses and young people by helping them to step into each other’s shoes,” said Makhulu Media producer Rowan Pybus.

“The data coming back from the study we have commissioned are very positive,” case study researcher and Makhulu Media co-producer Sydelle Willow Smith said. “The youth and health-care workers involved in the film believe that having the films played to people in waiting rooms in clinics would be very useful.”

The films are being rolled out in clinics, schools and communities in South Africa. Despite progress in reducing AIDS-related deaths and in people accessing treatment, new HIV infections in 2017 in South Africa reached 270 000. This is down from a high of 530 000 in 1998, but the country has 7.2 million people living with HIV—the highest in the world. Google Program Manager Sarah Steele believes that the potential for VT to produce positive social impact is enormous.  

“360HIV is a powerful example of how virtual reality can help change the attitudes and beliefs that underlie some of the world’s most urgent social and environmental challenges,” she said.  

A quarter of the 37 million people living with HIV in the world do not know their status. The theme of this year’s World AIDS Day campaign is Live Life Positively—Know Your HIV Status and UNAIDS has prepared a range of communications materials that are now available to download from the UNAIDS website at https://knowyourstatus.unaids.org. All the films and trailers can be found here.

Makhulu Media

Founded in 2004, Makhulu is an award-winning film, photography and creative media agency based in Cape Town, South Africa. Passionate about storytelling, environmental issues, community and the arts, they are among the first to have adopted virtual reality filmmaking in the region. Having pioneered a solar-powered mobile cinema, Sunshine Cinema, to screen educational films, Makhulu subsequently branched out into VR.

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.

UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador urges people to test for HIV and to seek treatment if necessary  

GENEVA, 23 November 2018—A little over one week before World AIDS Day, UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador Victoria Beckham has visited the organization’s Geneva, Switzerland, headquarters to support calls for people to know their HIV status and to seek treatment for HIV if necessary.

“I am really happy to be in Geneva to support UNAIDS in the run-up to World AIDS Day,” said Ms Beckham during her visit. “We need to make sure that people feel supported to take an HIV test by ending the stigma and discrimination still too often associated with the virus. Today, we have the medicines to keep people healthy and to stop the virus being transmitted. AIDS isn’t over yet, but it can be.”

UNAIDS estimates that there were around 36.9 million people living with HIV worldwide in 2017, with around 21.7 million people accessing life-saving medicines that keep people alive and well and stop the transmission of the virus. However, UNAIDS also estimates that around one in four people worldwide continue to be unaware that they are living with HIV.

During the visit, the UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé, met with Ms Beckham to thank her for her support and to discuss the latest developments in the AIDS response.

“We have made a lot of progress in expanding access to treatment, but the number of people who don’t know their HIV status is still far too high,” said Mr Sidibé. “We have to make sure that people have access to testing services and are provided with treatment immediately if they need it. We also have to make sure that people have access to the full range of HIV prevention options to bring down the number of new HIV infections.”

Thanks to antiretroviral therapy, AIDS-related deaths have been reduced by more than 51% since the peak in 2004. In 2017, 940 000 people died from an AIDS-related illness worldwide, compared to 1.9 million in 2004. In 2017, however, there were 1.8 million new HIV infections.

In many regions of the world, women continue to be the worst affected by the epidemic and every week 6600 young women aged 15–24 years become infected with HIV. In sub-Saharan Africa, three in four new infections among adolescents aged 15–19 years are among girls, and young women aged 15–24 years are twice as likely to be living with HIV than men.

In other regions, the epidemic is concentrated among key populations, such as gay men and other men who have sex with men, sex workers, transgender people, people who inject drugs, prisoners and other incarcerated people and migrants.

It is estimated that around 35.4 million people worldwide have died from an AID-related illness since the start of the epidemic.

GENEVA, 24 October 2018—The Prime Minister Thomas Thabane and the First Lady of Lesotho, Maesaiah Thabane, visited UNAIDS headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, to advocate for the end of AIDS and reduce its impact on young people.

They met the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, and UNAIDS staff members. 

Around one in six people in Lesotho is living with HIV, one of the highest rates in the world. And more women are affected than men—27.7% of women are living with HIV, while 19.7% of men are. Progress has been made, with AIDS-related deaths declining from 15 000 in 2005 to about 5000 in 2017, but more needs to be done to prevent new HIV infections, notably from mother to child, with the mother-to-child transmission of HIV rate standing at 11.3%.

“We can and we will end new HIV infections among babies,” said Mr Thabane.

The First Lady meanwhile has been a champion of young people. She has shown strong commitment to reducing breast cancer and cervical cancer and pushing access to integrated reproductive health services. 

“If we want to reduce and end gender-based violence against women, we must send our girls to school and keep them there,” said Ms Thabane. “We must invest in girls.”

Mr Sidibé expressed his full support, praising Lesotho for making significant progress in its HIV response. He said, “Ending AIDS begins with young people. That means engaging girls and boys and providing them with information through traditional and social media channels.”

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.

UNAIDS' support to Central African Republic lauded by the President

GENEVA, 23 October 2018—The President of the Central African Republic visited UNAIDS to discuss ongoing efforts to rebuild his country, advance national reconciliation and deliver basic services for the populations after decades of political instability and conflict.

"The government is working with its partners to increase access to basic social services like education, health, and clean water as well as boost our HIV response,” said Faustin-Archange Touadéra, President of the Central African Republic. “Our progress remains fragile, this is why we need the support and engagement of all our partners to advance our recovery.”

UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé, who visited CAR in early October, thanked the President for his continued commitment towards peace, saying he was encouraged to see pockets of hope. “In your reconstruction efforts, health is a powerful tool to improve social justice and stability,” said Mr Sidibé. “I commend the President for his personal engagement to ensure protection and dignity for all, including women and girls who are vulnerable to sexual violence and abuse.”

UNAIDS and the CAR Ministry of National Defence and Reconstruction of the Army and the Ministry of Health signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to reduce gender-based violence and HIV infections within the military and other uniformed personnel, and to increase uptake of HIV treatment, care and support services.

The Central African Republic has the second highest HIV prevalence in central Africa, estimated at 4% in 2017. However, among uniformed personnel, HIV prevalence is double, at an estimated 7.8%. Knowledge of HIV among uniformed personnel in the Central African Republic is particularly low and reports of sexual abuse and violence by military personnel are widespread. Since January 2017, the Central African Republic has seen progress in its response to HIV, with more than 10 000 people accessing life-saving treatment.

The President reiterated that after years of violence, people longed for an end to the suffering. He sincerely hopes that uniformed personnel, armed groups and the government will continue their dialogue to achieve peace with the African Union’s guidance. He repeated, “Now is the time to act to lift up our nation and we thank UNAIDS for their ongoing support.”

HIV data for the Central African Republic in 2017

• 160 000 [130 000–190 000] people were living with HIV
• 53% of people living with HIV knew their HIV status
• 32% of people living with HIV were accessing antiretroviral therapy
• 8700 [7600–11 000] people became newly infected with HIV
• 15 000 [12 000–17 000] people died from AIDS-related illnesses

UNAIDS

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

BERLIN, GERMANY, 16 October 2018—Eleven heads of the world’s leading health and development organizations today signed a landmark commitment to find new ways of working together to accelerate progress towards achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Coordinated by the World Health Organization, the initiative unites the work of 11 organizations, with others set to join in the next phase.

The commitment follows a request from Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana, and Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway, with support from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, to develop a global plan of action to define how global actors can better collaborate to accelerate progress towards the health-related targets of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

“Healthy people are essential for sustainable development – to ending poverty, promoting peaceful and inclusive societies and protecting the environment. However, despite great strides made against many of the leading causes of death and disease, we must redouble our efforts or we will not reach several of the health-related targets,” the organizations announced today at the World Health Summit in Berlin. “The Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-being for All represents an historic commitment to new ways of working together to accelerate progress towards meeting the 2030 goals. We are committed to redefine how our organizations work together to deliver more effective and efficient support to countries and to achieve better health and well-being for all people.”

The group has agreed to develop new ways of working together to maximize resources and measure progress in a more transparent and engaging way. The first phase of the plan’s development is organized under three strategic approaches: align, accelerate and account.

• Align: The organizations have committed to coordinate programmatic, financing and operational processes to increase collective efficiency and impact on a number of shared priorities such as gender equality and reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health.
• Accelerate: They have agreed to develop common approaches and coordinate action in areas of work that have the potential to increase the pace of progress in global health. The initial set of seven “accelerators” include community and civil society engagement, research and development, data and sustainable financing.
• Account: To improve transparency and accountability to countries and development partners, the health organizations are breaking new ground by setting common milestones for nearly 50 health-related targets across 14 Sustainable Development Goals. These milestones will provide a critical checkpoint and common reference to determine where the world stands in 2023 and whether it is on track to reach the 2030 goals.

The Global Action Plan will also enhance collective action and leverage funds to address gender inequalities that act as barriers to accessing health, and to improve comprehensive quality health care for women and girls, including sexual and reproductive health services. 

The organizations that have already signed up to the Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-being for All are: Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Global Financing Facility, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, Unitaid, UN Women, the World Bank and WHO. The World Food Programme has committed to join the plan in the coming months.

The final plan will be delivered in September 2019 at the United Nations General Assembly.

For more information, www.who.int/sdg/global-action-plan

Media enquiries

• Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance: Frédérique Tissandier; +41 79 300 8253; ftissandier@gavi.org
• Global Financing Facility: Melanie Mayhew; +1 202-459-7115; mmayhew1@worldbankgroup.org
• Global Fund: Ibon Villelabeitia; +41 79 292 5426; ibon.Villelabeitia@theglobalfund.org
• UNAIDS: Sophie Barton-Knott; +41 79 514 6896; bartonknotts@unaids.org
• UNDP: Adam Cathro; +19179159725; adam.cathro@undp.org
• UNFPA: Omar Gharzeddine; +1 212 297 5028; gharzeddine@unfpa.org
• UNICEF: Sabrina Sidhu; +1 917 476 1537; ssidhu@unicef.org
• Unitaid: Andrew Hurst, +41795616807; hursta@unitaid.who.int
• UN Women: Maria Sanchez Aponte; +16467814507; maria.sanchez@unwomen.org
• World Bank Group: Maya Brahmam; +1 202 361 2594; mbrahmam@worldbankgroup.org
• WHO: Christian Lindmeier; +4179 500 6552; lindmeierch@who.int

New initiative launched to engage the military and other uniformed personnel in HIV awareness, prevention and treatment and eliminate sexual and gender-based violence by defence and security forces

BANGUI/GENEVA, 9 October 2018—UNAIDS has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of National Defence and Reconstruction of the Army, the Ministry of Health and Population and the National AIDS Committee of the Central African Republic. The aim of the MoU is to reduce new HIV infections within the military and other uniformed personnel, reduce sexual violence and abuse by security and defence forces and increase uptake of HIV treatment, care and support services.  

The MoU comes at a critical time. The Central African Republic has the second highest HIV prevalence in central Africa, estimated at 4% in 2017. However, among uniformed personnel, HIV prevalence is double, at an estimated 7.8%. Knowledge of HIV among uniformed personnel in the Central African Republic is particularly low and reports of sexual abuse and violence by military personnel are widespread.

"We have a responsibility to protect all our people from violence and HIV, especially women and girls, who are the most vulnerable. By focusing on uniformed personnel, we aim to transform the relationship between the new army and the population, as a key to reconstruction,” said Faustin-Archange Touadéra, President of the Central African Republic.

Under the MoU the parties involved will mobilize national partners to respond to HIV and gender-based violence within the defence and security forces, reduce HIV prevalence and incidence and improve relations between the defence and security forces and the general population through integrated activities around HIV prevention and gender-based violence.

“This protocol is a first,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “It translates Security Council resolution 1983 into concrete actions. It places prevention at the centre of our efforts to end gender-based violence as a cause and consequence of HIV. This is essential and complementary to all efforts to strengthen accountability for sexual violence in the Central African Republic.”

Special emphasis will be given to training and awareness-raising for defence and security forces using methods proven to be effective in reducing gender-based violence and preventing HIV. These include improving mechanisms to report sexual violence, support for survivors and ensuring access to effective HIV prevention tools. Social and psychosocial support programmes will also be made available for members of the defence and security forces and their families.

The main beneficiaries of the programmes and activities will be the defence and security forces in the Central African Republic, which include the military, the police, the gendarmerie, customs officials, water and forestry officers and the municipal police. The implementation of the MoU will also benefit the wider population through planned integrated activities between the military and civilians and through the impact of HIV prevention, treatment and care programmes and efforts to eliminate sexual and gender-based violence and abuse.

UNAIDS will provide leadership and technical support to the initiative and will mobilize its partners and Cosponsors, particularly organizations working on gender and health issues, to support the implementation of the activities outlined in the MoU. UNAIDS will also ensure effective collaboration between all project partners, including ensuring the active participation of civil society. It will also play a critical role in advocating for resources and supporting the monitoring, evaluation and documentation of the initiative.

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic and the European Union Military Training Mission in the Central African Republic have committed to support the initiative.

The new commitments will play an important role in advancing the National Recovery and Peacebuilding Plan 2017–2021 in the Central African Republic and are part of ongoing efforts to implement United Nations Security Council resolution 1983, which underlines the importance of concerted efforts towards ending sexual and gender-based violence and responding to HIV in conflict and post-conflict settings.  
 

HIV data for the Central African Republic in 2017:

• 160 000 [130 000–190 000] people were living with HIV
• 53% of people living with HIV knew their HIV status
• 32% of people living with HIV were accessing antiretroviral therapy
• 8700 [7600–11 000] people became newly infected with HIV
• 15 000 [12 000–17 000] people died from AIDS-related illnesses

UNAIDS

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