Update
Luxembourg to champion the 90–90–90 treatment target
09 December 2014
09 December 2014 09 December 2014Luxembourg has announced that it will champion the 90–90–90 treatment target and has pledged an additional €500 000 for its implementation in addition to its current multi-year funding agreement.
A collaboration between Luxembourg and UNAIDS will entail the organization of high-level thematic consultations in 2015 to generate political, technical and strategic recommendations to help countries achieve the new treatment target. Luxembourg will further use its championship to promote the 90–90–90 target at the highest political level, including within the European Union.
The announcement was made at the 35th meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board, taking place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 9 to 11 December 2014. The collaboration will officially be launched at the beginning of 2015.
Under the 90–90–90 treatment target, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status, 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy and 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression by 2020. Modelling suggests that achieving this ambitious target will enable the world to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030, which in turn will generate profound health and economic benefits.
Being one of the few donor countries in the world to maintain its official development assistance at 1% of its gross national income, Luxembourg serves as an example in international development cooperation. The country is also one of UNAIDS’ top donors and has always provided strong support in addressing the needs and rights of vulnerable groups and the promotion and protection of human rights.
Quotes
“It is with great appreciation that UNAIDS welcomes Luxembourg as the champion of the 90–90–90 treatment target. The only way to reach this ambitious target is through approaches grounded in the principles of human rights, mutual respect and inclusion. With its strong commitment to promoting these values, Luxembourg is the ideal partner to champion 90–90–90 and we look forward to a successful collaboration.”
“The 90-90-90 treatment target is a highly ambitious endeavour that we are very proud to champion. It is the sort of vision we need if we are serious about ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. Luxembourg is fully committed to this championship and is looking forward to a very successful collaboration with UNAIDS.”
“The launch of the 90–90–90 treatment target at the 69th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations in September 2014 marks a decisive moment in the response to AIDS. By championing this target at the political, technical and financial levels, Luxembourg strongly supports this important cause, together with its longstanding partner, UNAIDS.”
Region/country
Related
Update
All In for adolescents
05 December 2014
05 December 2014 05 December 2014Adolescents are being left behind in the global AIDS response. HIV is the number one contributor to adolescent mortality in sub-Saharan African and number two globally. Adolescents often lack access to proven, life-saving services, such as HIV treatment. To address this situation, a meeting was held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 3 to 5 December to design a strategy to address the challenges that adolescents face.
The global strategy consultation brought together around 50 activists from youth networks, governments, implementers, donors and UNAIDS cosponsors, all committed to making real progress through improving programmes, driving innovation and amplifying advocacy.
The participants took stock of ongoing efforts and reviewed a results framework to create accountability towards, and track progress for, the often neglected population. They looked at establishing milestones to measure progress and at what can be done to accelerate change for adolescents using innovative approaches and improved data. Critically, there was consensus among all partners that much more needs to be done to tap the inherent potential of adolescents and young people for progressive social change.
An action plan was developed outlining catalytic efforts in which partners could join to deliver results. Partners will now work together to finalize the All In agenda, which will be launched in February 2015.
The consultation was convened by UNAIDS and the United Nations Children’s Fund. The United Nations Population Fund and the World Health Organization were co-convenors, in collaboration with youth networks and other core members of the All In Leadership Group: the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the MTV Staying Alive Foundation.
Quotes
“We cannot do this alone—this is not a project—All In needs to be translated to a power that leverages all the different initiatives out there and brings people together around the common mission to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.”
“As youth organizations we have agreed to get in, to accelerate the All In agenda, especially for adolescent key populations and adolescents living with HIV.”
“We need to reset our brains—All In is an opportunity that has to make us think big!”
“All In! is about deviating from the norm, so that we totally transform the outcomes for adolescents."
“All In! is an agenda for action and a platform for collaboration to accelerate HIV results with and for adolescents, where adolescents must be meaningfully involved in every aspect."
Update
Leaders call for an African road map to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030
27 November 2014
27 November 2014 27 November 2014Leaders of key continental, regional and national institutions concluded that the AIDS epidemic remains a key priority for Africa and must be ended by 2030 in the continent during a High-level Dialogue on Ending AIDS, held on 24 November in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The dialogue was hosted by the African Union Commission, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and UNAIDS as part of activities to commemorate World AIDS Day 2014.
During the meeting, participants discussed the recommendations in the new UNAIDS report Fast-Track: ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 and encouraged countries to embrace the targets set to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. To achieve this goal, participants made several recommendations, which include ensuring the effective use of existing continental accountability mechanisms, such as AIDS Watch Africa and the African Peer Review Mechanism; focusing on innovative ways of increasing domestic financing for health; ensuring sustained access to medicines through local production of drugs; integrating AIDS as part of broader health and development; and ensuring national HIV programmes tailored for young people and populations at higher risk of HIV infection.
Participants of the meeting included ambassadors of African Union Member States, representatives of the African Union Commission, regional economic communities, the African Peer Review Mechanism, AIDS Watch Africa, civil society organizations and development partners, and key opinion leaders, academics and young people.
Quotes
“Ending AIDS is Africa’s responsibility, everyone’s responsibility and indeed a global responsibility.”
“The battle against HIV and AIDS is ours to win.”
“The African Peer Review Mechanism not only assesses and monitors the extent to which commitments are implemented, it also provides the opportunity for policy-makers and ordinary citizens to hold each other accountable.”
“We must step up our efforts in the AIDS response—there must be no room for complacency.”
“We, the youth movement, ask our leaders to walk away from this dialogue with these commitments—action towards adopting targets for universal sexual and reproductive health and rights, and ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 in the post-2015 development agenda.”
“The commitment to end the AIDS epidemic is already there. What we now need is a clear strategy to achieve this ambitious target.”
Region/country
Related
Update
Closing the HIV testing gap in eastern and southern Africa
03 December 2014
03 December 2014 03 December 2014More than 50 000 people in eastern and southern Africa received HIV testing and counselling services as part of national campaigns held between 17 and 30 November. On 1 December, World AIDS Day, countries unveiled the number of people tested during the campaigns, which took place in Botswana, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and United Republic of Tanzania.
While the campaigns sought to reach the general population, some countries focused on reaching populations at higher risk of HIV infection, including young people, women and migrants.
Ethiopia held a one-day campaign in Gambella, which has the highest HIV prevalence in the country, at 6.5%, according to the 2011 Ethiopian Demographic Survey. Botswana provided HTC services at 10 testing sites in Maun District, with a special focus on couples and young people. Lesotho undertook a two-week nationwide campaign focusing on young people, migrants, men and traditional healers. Namibia held the testing in Katutura—a township of the capital Windhoek—to reach underserved communities in informal settlements.
Communities, non-profit organizations and national partners supported the campaigns by mobilizing communities, procuring test kits or distributing HIV information materials and commodities. The campaigns also ensured that people who tested positive for HIV were referred and linked to HIV treatment and care services.
The number of people tested during the campaigns reaffirms the strong commitment of countries to accelerate community action and galvanize the active involvement of young people and networks of people living with HIV to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
Quotes
“Our efforts to ending the AIDS epidemic in this region will not be successful if people do not know their HIV status. Voluntary HIV testing and counselling is the starting point that will get countries to zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths.”
“Today is our one month anniversary and we both tested negative for HIV. This has been a perfect anniversary present for both of us. Our status will allow us to move forward in our relationship with trust and protecting each other.”
“I wanted to know my HIV status for some time now but I have always been too afraid. I have been engaged in unprotected sex with my partner, who told me that I should get tested for the both of us. Now that I know my status, I will tell my partner, my friends and family to come and get tested as well.”
“I just found out that I have HIV. It seems I have a new life and I cannot change my result. But I am determined to lead a healthy life for me, my child and my husband.”
Related
Update
Innovative new initiative to end the AIDS epidemic in cities
30 November 2014
30 November 2014 30 November 2014On the eve of World AIDS Day 2014, mayors, city representatives and people living with HIV came together in Paris to prepare plans to implement an innovative new initiative to end the AIDS epidemic in cities.
The Fast-Track Cities initiative includes commitments to achieving the UNAIDS 90–90–90 targets by 2020, which will result in 90% of people living with HIV knowing their HIV status, 90% of people who know their HIV-positive status on antiretroviral treatment and 90% of people on treatment with suppressed viral loads, keeping them healthy and reducing the risk of HIV transmission.
It will encourage new, cutting-edge service delivery programmes that will not only advance the response to HIV but will also pave the way for cities to address other major public health challenges such as tuberculosis and noncommunicable diseases. Participants were encouraged to share best practices in their cities so that other cities can benefit from their experiences.
They discussed how city leaders could rally resources, talents and innovation in order to ensure people are at the centre. They also highlighted the importance of accelerating access to HIV testing and treatment services, eliminating stigma and discrimination and significantly reducing new HIV infections. They stressed that a better understanding of HIV epidemics in cities would empower leaders to actively address the gaps in the response and reach the people being left behind.
The meeting was convened by the City of Paris, UNAIDS, UN-Habitat and the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care.
The Fast-Track Cities initiative, to be launched on World AIDS Day 2014, will be led by mayors, in partnership with communities, civil society, public health officials, clinicians, law enforcement agencies and others. It is expected to deliver significant results in improvements in the health of people living in urban areas.
Quotes
"We are here not just to advocate for progress but to set a clear path for implementation in all of our cities to ensure that our ambitious objectives are turned into action."
"Durban aims to be Africa’s best, most liveable and caring city. And we know that a strong, equitable and effective AIDS response is critical to this vision."
"We are here to create a sustainable and dynamic network of partners to share best practices and to learn from another, so that at the end of the day, together, we can we can achieve our goals."
"By engaging the key populations who are most affected by HIV—including sex workers, men who have sex with men, and people who inject drugs—by focusing on what we know works, and driving down the costs of interventions, we can get to the end of AIDS."
"We have the tools, knowledge, and experience to end AIDS. But what will define our progress is how we deal with issues of discrimination, social exclusion and inequity. City leaders know better than anyone in the world the challenges—and solutions—in dealing with discrimination."
“We are listening to and working with communities to strengthen the sense of responsibility among people and ensure services meet people’s needs. Our message is that life is yours, health is yours – and we are here to support you.”
Update
ILO World AIDS Day campaign focuses on closing the gap in the workplace
01 December 2014
01 December 2014 01 December 2014UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Jan Beagle participated, together with the Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), in World AIDS Day commemorations at the ILO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on 1 December to highlight the importance of fast-tracking the AIDS response.
A focus of the ILO event was its VCT@Work campaign, which aims to reach 5 million workers with voluntary counselling and testing by 2015. Since its launch, the initiative has reached over 1 million workers and mobilized close to 500 000 people to undertake an HIV test.
As part its World AIDS Day commemoration, ILO staff formed a human red ribbon at ILO Headquarters in solidarity with people living with and affected by HIV worldwide.
Quotes
“At ILO you know best that the world of work provides unique entry points to close the gap and to reach some of the populations left behind in the AIDS response. Workplaces are communities with communication systems and health-care facilities that can be used for prevention, treatment, care and support services and to address stigma and discrimination.”
“We can only achieve our goal of ending AIDS by 2030 if we effectively address people’s needs, which include decent jobs, respect for their labour rights and social protection coverage.”
Related
Update
Involving women and youth in the health sector discussed at the Francophonie Summit
28 November 2014
28 November 2014 28 November 2014Valuing and increasing the participation of women and youth in the health sector is essential to achieving sustainable results, participants heard at the fifteenth Francophonie Summit, held in Dakar, Senegal, from 25 to 30 November.
In parallel with the Francophonie Summit, UNAIDS, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund), the Senegalese Ministry of Health, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, the GAVI Alliance and UNITAID organized a high-level meeting on 26 November that brought together national and international dignitaries. They emphasized the importance of strengthening health systems in La Francophonie and of involving women, youth and, more widely, communities in health issues.
UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé spoke of the need to place on the political agenda the response to major epidemics. Participants said that the Ebola virus disease outbreak, which to date has killed more than 5500 people in West Africa, demonstrates the fragmentation of leadership and weaknesses of health systems. These factors and a lack of financial resources have also affected the HIV response in the past.
The post-2015 development goals, which should promote a new architecture for global health, should allow the translation of lessons learned from these outbreaks into rapid action.
Putting human rights issues and health at the heart of concerns in the post-2015 development agenda will also make it possible to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030, which will mean a redistribution of opportunities. During his visit to Senegal, Mr Sidibé and Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund, visited the Ambulatory Treatment Centre in Dakar, which treats a range of infectious diseases and where more than 51 000 HIV tests were carried out in 2013.
Quotes
"The better we do things, the less we are assisted. However, it is necessary to capitalize on what is being done at the community level.”
"I propose that each country adopt a health policy. Who does what, and what are we doing together?”
"Women’s empowerment and equity in education are critical to improving the health of women and youth.”
"Africa accounts for 25% of the global burden of the disease, and only 1% of investments. It is time to consider health as an investment.”
"The Global Fund will have committed US$ 3.6 billion by 2017 to the countries of La Francophonie, an increase of 43%, to fight against the three pandemics and to strengthen health systems.”
Region/country
Related
Update
Women living with HIV speak out against violence
26 November 2014
26 November 2014 26 November 2014To mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November and the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, UNAIDS published Women living with HIV speak out against violence, a collection of powerful essays written by women living with and affected by HIV.
Intimate partner violence affects one in three women globally and has been shown to increase the risk of acquiring HIV, while research shows that preventing such violence can reduce HIV incidence by 12%. In some settings, young women who have experienced intimate partner violence are 50% more likely to acquire HIV than women who have not. As reported in the publication, women living with HIV also face institutional violence, including forced sterilization and forced abortion as well as denial of health services.
Sabine Böhlke-Möller, Ambassador of Namibia to the United Nations Office in Geneva, and Luiz Loures, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, jointly launched the publication. Depicting women’s experiences of violence and proposing action to end the AIDS epidemic and violence against women, the publication also highlights the imperative of a united and multisectoral response to eliminating violence against women and ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
Quotes
“When you commit violence against a woman, you commit violence against everyone.”
Publications
Related
Update
Triple antiretroviral medicine regimen more effective for preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV
21 November 2014
21 November 2014 21 November 2014Results from a major clinical trial released on 17 November provide further evidence that triple antiretroviral medicine combinations are more effective than single-medicine regimens in preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Named PROMISE—Promoting Maternal and Infant Survival Everywhere—the trial was conducted in India, Malawi, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The findings show that pregnant women with a CD4 count of 350 cells/mm3 or higher receiving a protease inhibitor containing triple antiretroviral regimen were 70% less likely to transmit HIV to their infants than women receiving a single-medicine regime of zidovudine.
Overall transmission rates, measured at two weeks of age, were low across the study, estimated at 0.5% and 0.6% among the mothers using each of the two triple-medicine regimens studied and 1.8% with the single-medicine regimen.
As expected with multiple medicine regimens, the study also revealed more side-effects in women taking the triple combination. While overall the number of women and babies experiencing side-effects was low, there was a higher incidence of maternal liver toxicity, low-birth weight and preterm deliveries with the triple regimen. According to the researchers, balancing the lower risk of HIV infection being passed from mother to baby with the increased rate of side-effects, the triple antiretroviral combination is the more favourable option.
These results confirm the WHO guidelines for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission and are reassuring for the many developing countries that are changing from single (WHO option A) to triple regimens (WHO option B/B+). UNAIDS supports rigorous research, such as the PROMISE trial, which was designed to inform policy and guidelines to enhance the global response to eliminate HIV infection among children.
Since 2011, UNAIDS and partners have been working with countries to reduce new HIV infections among children and strengthen maternal health through the Global Plan towards the elimination of new HIV infections among children and keeping their mother alive, which covers the 22 countries in which 90% of newborn infections occur. By the end of 2013, the participating countries had already registered a 43% reduction in new HIV infections, and eight have reduced new infections by 50% or more. For the first time, all the 22 countries have now adopted the option B triple medicine regimen for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
Quotes
“The outcome of the PROMISE trial provides clear evidence for countries that are still implementing option A to move as rapidly as possible to option B/B+.”
Related
Update
UNAIDS and WHO undertake joint mission to Mali to support the response to Ebola
24 November 2014
24 November 2014 24 November 2014The Ebola virus is continuing to claim lives across West Africa. Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are the worst-affected countries, with transmission still widespread. Some 15 300 cases have been reported since the start of the outbreak and more than 5450 people have died. Mali, previously free from the virus, is the latest country to register Ebola cases, six in total, all of which have been fatal.
The Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé was accompanied by the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan, on a recent visit to Mali to support the country in its efforts to curb the spread of Ebola and translate lessons learned from the AIDS epidemic into action on the ground.
Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and Jean-François Delfraissy, French coordinator of the international and national Ebola response, joined the high-level visit.
Together with the Malian Minister of Health, the delegation visited an Ebola treatment centre in Bamako run by Médecins Sans Frontières, where an Ebola patient is being treated. They later met with civil society representatives, religious leaders and health workers.
The next 15 days are critical for ending Ebola in Mali. The coordination of action and strategic communication are key to success, as are immediate international funding and technical assistance.
While in Mali, Mr Sidibé met with President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta and Prime Minister Moussa Mara and joined First Lady Keïta Aminata Maïga to visit a health centre that works to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
Quotes
"Putting an end to Ebola is a national priority."
“A multisectoral approach is the best way to end Ebola. Government and civil society should work together.”
