Widely used in developed countries to maintain living standards and address transient poverty, social protection has now become an essential element of modern development efforts. Social protection in developing countries encompasses a range of programmes designed to help lift people out of poverty and prevent, manage and overcome situations that adversely affect their well-being.

To ensure that HIV is considered and integrated appropriately into social protection programmes, UNAIDS and partners have developed an HIV and social protection assessment tool. The tool has been designed to analyse social protection schemes and establish whether they take into account the needs of people at higher risk of contracting HIV and people living with and affected by the virus.

Reducing vulnerability to HIV and ensuring support and treatment are critical elements of a successful response to HIV. Ensuring that HIV is firmly part of social protection programmes is an important part of UNAIDS’ work.

The assessment tool is an online survey, designed to assist countries in gathering information on the social protection schemes that exist in different countries, their purpose, eligibility criteria, coverage and HIV sensitivity. It also asks whether people living with HIV, adolescent girls and young women at higher risk of HIV infection, key populations and other people eligible to benefit from social protection benefits are actually accessing existing social protection schemes. If not, the survey asks what key barriers people face in accessing social protection benefits and what can be done to overcome those barriers.

The tool will help countries to monitor progress towards meeting the social protection target that United Nations Member States committed to in the 2016 United Nations Political Declaration on Ending AIDS. That target seeks to intensify action in strengthening national social and child protection systems to ensure that 75% of people living with HIV, at risk of HIV or affected by HIV benefit from HIV-sensitive social protection by 2020.

The tool was launched at the annual meeting of the Inter-Agency Task Team on Social Protection, convened by the World Bank and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which was held at the International Labour Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, on 26 April. Founding partners of the tool include UNICEF, the United Nations Development Programme, International Labour Organization, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, USAID, Aidsfonds, World Vision International, Oxford University and the Governments of Kenya and Zambia.

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The Global Review Panel on the Future of the UNAIDS Joint Programme Model has issued its final report, Refining and reinforcing the UNAIDS Joint Programme Model, which offers guidance on ways the Joint Programme can step up efforts to deliver more results for people living with and affected by HIV.

Around 100 participants, representing a wide range of stakeholders, including United Nations Member States, United Nations agencies and civil society, gathered in Geneva, Switzerland, on 28 April to discuss the findings and recommendations of the panel at a global multistakeholder consultation.

The panel validated the vision and model of UNAIDS, recognizing its irreplaceable value in the AIDS ecosystem and underscored its strong foundation of assets—among them, country presence, political legitimacy and UNAIDS’ role as an international standard-bearer for producing data and evidence that is used to drive decision-making.

In its report, the panel recommends that UNAIDS should continue to transfer human and financial resources to the countries most affected by the AIDS epidemic. Other recommendations include reconfiguring United Nations country AIDS teams to be more responsive to the specific nature of the HIV epidemic and to improve accountability, including by engaging a range of stakeholders at all levels in monitoring progress on the AIDS response.

By refining its ways of working, UNAIDS will be better positioned to fulfil its unique mandate of exercising political leadership, providing strategic information and supporting the engagement of countries with other partners, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The report details how UNAIDS could further enhance its support to countries in reaching the ambitious Fast-Track Targets by 2020—reducing new HIV infections to fewer than 500 000, reducing AIDS-related deaths to fewer than 500 000 and eliminating HIV-related stigma and discrimination—which were adopted by United Nations Member States at the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS in June 2016. The report also recognizes UNAIDS as a model and pathfinder for progress on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and as an innovative joined-up approach at the cutting-edge of United Nations reform.

The Global Review Panel, requested by the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board, was set up to make recommendations for a sustainable and fit-for-purpose UNAIDS. It focused on three fundamental pillars of the Joint Programme: financing and accountability, joint working and governance. It was co-convened by Helen Clark, Chair of the United Nations Development Group, and Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director. The Panel Co-Chairs were Awa Coll-Seck, Health Minister of Senegal, and Lennarth Hjelmåker, Sweden’s Ambassador for Global Health. It undertook an extensive process of consultations with a wide range of stakeholders, including at the global and country levels. A revised operating model of UNAIDS will be presented at the Programme Coordinating Board meeting in June for consideration and approval, which will take into account the recommendations of the Global Review Panel.

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A new campaign called #Live2LUV aims to promote information on sexual and reproductive health, including HIV, among young people in South-East Asian countries. UNAIDS, along with regional networks of young people, Youth Lead and Youth Voices Count, and the United Nations Children’s Fund and the United Nations Population Fund, launched the campaign during the four-day Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Youth Summit in Manila, Philippines, which ends on 29 April.

“The #Live2LUV campaign will help to inspire, promote and educate young people on sexual and reproductive health and rights and HIV, as well as reduce stigma towards young key populations in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region,” said Junelyn Tabelin of Youth LEAD.

In the Asia and Pacific region, young people (15–24 years old) account for 37% of new HIV infections. Data show that young people from key populations are at even higher risk of HIV infection than their older counterparts. For example, in Thailand, among young gay men and other men who have sex with men HIV prevalence is 11%, compared with 8.3% among gay men and other men who have sex with men who are 25 years and older.

According to behavioural studies in eight countries, comprehensive knowledge of HIV is low in many South-East Asian countries.

“I didn’t have the right information on HIV and I didn’t know how to protect myself,” said Relly Manlapaz, a 17-year-old transgender woman, who participated in a UNAIDS session at the youth summit. “Before joining the HIV advocacy work, I used to believe that one could get HIV through mosquito bites and by sharing utensils with someone living with HIV,” she added.

The #Live2LUV campaign will use social media to disseminate information on HIV prevention and treatment, and will encourage an enabling environment for young key populations with messages encouraging understanding, acceptance and zero discrimination.

The regional partners will work with local organizations in each of the 10 ASEAN countries to clear up misunderstanding about HIV and provide information in a youth-friendly manner. The campaign will cover different key HIV themes, as well as create a forum for young people to share their stories. A platform has been developed to host all the campaign materials and resources at www.hivandyouth.org. The eight-month-long social media campaign will culminate on World AIDS Day and will garner support from celebrities and influencers on social media.

UNAIDS is working with countries to ensure that, by 2020, 90% of young people have the skills, knowledge and capacity to protect themselves from HIV and have access to sexual and reproductive health services.

There are around 1.5 million people living with HIV in Kenya, around 400 000 of whom are unaware that they have the virus. If people do not know their status, it is impossible for them to access life-saving treatment.

There are also high numbers of new HIV infections, particularly among young people and among key populations. In 2015, there were an estimated 78 000 new HIV infections in Kenya. And testing rates are low, especially among men, meaning they are not able to benefit from treatment.  

In response, the Government of Kenya has launched two innovative technologies that it hopes will bring ending the AIDS epidemic one step closer: self-testing for HIV and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV infection.

The Kenyan Ministry of Health has launched the Be Self Sure campaign to encourage people to get tested for HIV. As part of the campaign, the government is making HIV self-test kits available through public and private health facilities and selected pharmacies for around US$ 8 each, a low price which was negotiated in a partnership between government of Kenya and the private sector. From July 2017 the government hopes to make the test kits available for free in public health facilities.

PrEP is pre-exposure prophylaxis—the use of antiretroviral medicines to prevent HIV among people who are HIV-negative. 

The campaign website includes an interactive map to let people know where to get the testing kits from and plays videos demonstrating how to use the kits and tells people what to do if they are HIV-positive or if they are HIV-negative. A helpline, open for 12 hours a day, is also available.

For people testing negative for HIV, the site urges people to talk to their health providers about HIV prevention options, including PrEP, a medicine that people at higher risk of HIV infection can take to prevent becoming infected with the virus. PrEP is being rolled out as part of the campaign, with the Government of Kenya offering it free of charge in selected public health facilities as part of a combination HIV prevention programme for people most at risk of HIV infection, including young people, serodiscordant couples, people who inject drugs and sex workers. The medicine will also be available for around US$ 36 dollars a month at private hospitals and pharmacies for anyone wishing to use it.

Around 10 countries and the European Medicines Agency have now approved the use of antiretroviral medicines for HIV prevention, with more set to follow. The implementation of PrEP strategies follows the guidelines established by the World Health Organization in 2015, which recommend the use of PrEP by members of key populations. The number of people using PrEP to prevent HIV is now thought to have risen to around 120 000 people, the majority in the United States of America. The roll out of PrEP in Kenya is a major advance in efforts to stop new HIV infections in the countries most affected by HIV.

By launching this new initiative, Kenya is continuing to affirm its position as a leader and innovator in efforts to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

UNAIDS is working closely with Kenya to prevent new HIV infections and to ensure that, by 2020, 90% of people living with HIV know their HIV status, 90% of people who know their HIV-positive status are accessing treatment and 90% of people on treatment have suppressed viral loads. By achieving these targets, Kenya will be able to end its AIDS epidemic by 2030.

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Since its establishment in 2003, the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has saved millions of lives. In 2016, around 11.5 million people living with HIV had access to antiretroviral treatment through PEPFAR-funded programmes, including 1.1 million children. Nearly 2 million babies born to women living with HIV were born HIV-free, and 6.2 million orphans and other vulnerable children received care and support.

In addition, PEPFAR funding supported more than 11.7 million voluntary medical male circumcision procedures to help prevent HIV acquisition and one million adolescent girls and young women were reached through the DREAMS initiative in 10 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

And PEPFAR is on track to continue to deliver yet more results. Through a series of consultations over the past three months, PEPFAR has completed planning for its 2017 funding cycle to support more than 30 countries through Country Operational Plans.

The final regional review meeting in the process—which involved around 250 partners, including senior government officials in implementing countries, civil society representatives and multilateral organizations—concluded on 29 April in Johannesburg, South Africa. UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé addressed the opening plenary meeting, underscoring the vital role of PEPFAR in accelerating country efforts to control their epidemics and advance towards the goal of ending AIDS by 2030.

PEPFAR’s investments in countries supports UNAIDS’ efforts to Fast-Track the response to HIV. The Fast-Track approach focuses on accelerating scale-up of HIV prevention, treatment, care and support for the populations and locations most affected by the epidemic. The development and review of PEPFAR’s Country Operational Plans is a model for transparency, inclusion and country ownership, with senior government officials and people living with and affected by HIV involved in the process.

UNAIDS is a key partner, working closely with countries to leverage PEPFAR investments and accelerate progress towards prevention and treatment targets. Bringing together the diverse technical resources of the United Nations system, UNAIDS helps countries to strengthen data systems, focus national strategic plans, overcome bottlenecks to scale-up, and put in place an enabling policy and social environment for access to services, including by eliminating stigma and discrimination.  

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Representatives of the ministries of health of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have reconfirmed their commitment to end AIDS by 2030. The ministers made the commitment at a meeting at the Health Council of the CIS, held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on 28 April.

Since 1997, the CIS has consistently highlighted the importance of the AIDS response. However, since 2010 the HIV epidemic in the CIS countries has continued to get worse. At the end of 2015, UNAIDS estimates that 1.5 million people were living with HIV in eastern Europe and central Asia, of which more than 90% are in the CIS countries.

The Director of the UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Vinay Saldanha, was invited to the meeting to present how the CIS countries can reach the ambitious targets of the Political Declaration on Ending AIDS by taking a Fast-Track approach. He made a special call for reaching the 90–90–90 targets—whereby 90% of people living with HIV know their HIV status, 90% of people who know their HIV-positive status are accessing treatment and 90% of people on treatment have suppressed viral loads—zero discrimination and a 75% reduction in new HIV infections by 2020 by rapidly scaling up the quality and coverage of HIV prevention services.

Mr Saldanha also highlighted the recent developments in the Russian Federation, where the Duma is considering a draft law that proposes removing restrictions on the travel and residence of foreigners living with HIV and other infectious diseases.

During the meeting, the ministers also discussed ways for better information exchange between CIS countries on epidemiological emergencies and outlined a plan for the implementation of the CIS health strategy.

It was also decided to further strengthen efforts to promote joint health-care programmes among the CIS countries, in close cooperation with the World Health Organization and UNAIDS.

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China and Africa have come together to find new ways of improving access to health care. More than 30 Ministers of Health from across Africa joined the Vice-Premier of China Liu Yandong, and the Chinese Minister of National Health and Family Planning Commission Li Bin at the China-Africa Ministerial Conference on Health Cooperation. The event was held in Pretoria, South Africa on April 24 under the theme China-Africa Health Cooperation, From Commitments to Actions.

The Vice Premier of China talked about the long standing partnership between China and Africa in the field of health care and of China’s commitment to help build the health sector in developing countries and boost efforts for a broader future for China-Africa cooperation in health.

In his address, the UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé, outlined three critical initiatives that need to be put in place. He said that, together with the African Union, partners should create a workforce of 2 million community health workers for Africa, learning from the Barefoot Doctors of China organization, which trains people on basic medicine to work in rural areas of China. Trilateral cooperation between China, Africa and UNAIDS should focus on disease surveillance for accelerating action to achieve Sustainable Development Goals 3. He added that UNAIDS will continue to support the scale-up of the local production of medicines and health commodities.

Following his speech, participants signed a five-point plan for China–Africa cooperation on health which focuses on improving access to health-care services through Chinese medical teams working in Africa and by strengthening public health preparedness and capacity-building, particularly through the African Centre for Disease Control. The plan also includes a special focus on key populations, women and young people and urges an increase in training opportunities for African and Chinese people. Increasing China–Africa cooperation, specifically around accelerated action for technology and local production, is also part of the plan.

During meetings with the Chinese Minister of Health, and the Uganda Minister of Health, Jane Aceng, Mr Sidibé emphasized how the China–Africa partnership can go beyond AIDS, to create sustainable solutions for social and economic development in Africa.

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UNAIDS and the International Organisation of la Francophonie (IOF) have joined together to support HIV testing among young people in Togo as part of the ProTest HIV campaign. For 15 days in Togo’s capital Lomé, UNAIDS and partners promoted voluntary HIV testing, care and support for people living with HIV and broader HIV prevention programmes among youth and adolescents, including access to reproductive health, family planning and sexual health services.

More than 2300 adolescents and young people attended the various events. Up to 600 people took an HIV test and more than 5000 male and female condoms were distributed during the 15 days.

The campaign in Lomé was held in partnership with the Ministry of Development Planning, the Ministry of Health, the University of Lomé, Maison TV5 Monde and the IOF Regional Office for West Africa.

UNAIDS is working with countries to ensure that, by 2020, 90% of young people have the skills, knowledge and capacity to protect themselves from HIV.

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The health and well-being of women, children and adolescents are central to building peaceful, sustainable and inclusive societies. This is why in 2010 the then United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, launched Every Woman Every Child, a global movement to mobilize and intensify action by governments, multilateral organizations, the private sector and civil society to address the major health challenges facing women, children and adolescents around the world.

Showing his support for these efforts, on 21 April United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres became the third and senior Co-Chair of Every Woman Every Child, alongside the President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, and the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn. The announcement was made at a meeting of the Every Woman Every Child steering group, held on the margins of the spring meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund.

Every Woman Every Child unites its partners to deliver on an integrated agenda for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health and well-being. It also puts into action a Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health, a road map to ending all preventable deaths of women, children and adolescents within a generation and ensuring their well-being.

The core partners of Every Woman Every Child include the H6 (UNAIDS, the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations Children’s Fund, UN Women, the World Health Organization and the World Bank Group), the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, the Global Financing Facility in support of Every Woman Every Child and the Every Woman Every Child Innovation Marketplace.

Over the past seven years, the movement has galvanized ambitious action and coordinated efforts across sectors. Since 2015, more than 60 country commitments and 150 multistakeholder commitments totalling more than US$ 27 billion have been made by the partners of Every Woman Every Child to deliver on the promises of a sustainable future for all by 2030.

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I am writing this in memory of my colleague and dear friend Alan Silverman, a retired UNAIDS staff member and leader in the AIDS response.

Alan was one of the driving forces who created UNCARES, a groundbreaking programme to inform United Nations (UN) staff about HIV and to provide education and prevention services. UNCARES also links staff to HIV testing and to treatment if they were living with HIV.

One the goals of the programme is to ensure that staff have a better understanding of HIV and the stigma and discrimination that exists. It also teaches people how to be part of the solutions to ensure all people living with and affected by HIV can live with dignity.

Before Alan retired, he was part of a taskforce that created materials to train UN staff about issues facing key populations including men who have sex with men, LGBTI, sex workers and people who use drugs.

Alan was always trying to make the world a better place. I will miss him. He was such an incredible friend. Words can't describe the huge amount of good he did in the world, for so many of us. 

NOTE: Eric Sawyer is a retired UNAIDS staff member and pioneering AIDS activist. 

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