The gender assessment tool for national HIV responses (GAT) is intended to assist countries in assessing the HIV epidemic, context and response from a gender perspective and in making the responses gender transformative, equitable and rights based. The GAT is designed to support the development or review of national strategic plans and to inform submissions to country investment cases and the (Global Fund.

Most countries are not on track and too many people living with HIV are still dying from TB which is preventable and curable. The most vulnerable and the marginalized are still out of reach of HIV and TB services and in around 40 countries the number of TB deaths among people living with HIV is increasing. This is unacceptable.

Adolescent girls and young women are still disproportionally affected by HIV. In eastern and southern Africa in 2017, 79% of new HIV infections among 10–19-year-olds were among females. An estimated 50 adolescent girls die every day from AIDS-related illnesses. And each day, some 460 adolescent girls become infected with HIV.

On Zero Discrimination Day this year, UNAIDS is highlighting the urgent need to take action against discriminatory laws.

In many countries, laws result in people being treated differently, excluded from essential services or being subject to undue restrictions on how they live their lives, simply because of who they are. Such laws are discriminatory—they deny human rights and fundamental freedoms. 

Ending discrimination and changing laws is the responsibility of us all. Everyone can play a part in ending discrimination and can try to make a difference, in ways both big and small. The Zero Discrimination Day 2019 campaign challenges people to act against laws that discriminate in their country. 

Through its Country Offices, UNAIDS is very much at the centre of providing strategic support to national counterparts in the development of national strategic plans and Global Fund grant proposals and is actively engaged in grant negotiations through inclusive participatory processes with all stakeholders and community networks.

This Checklist supports the in-country implementation of the 2017 WHO and UNAIDS Consolidated guideline on the SRHR of women living with HIV. To guarantee the guideline’s effective implementation and fulfil its ground-breaking women-centred spirit and principles, its uptake must include the meaningful engagement of women living with HIV in all their diversity. This guideline was developed with engagement from communities of women living with HIV throughout its development, publication and dissemination.  In line with this collaborative process, it discusses implementation issues that laws, policies, health, social and other relevant initiatives and service delivery must address to achieve gender equality and support human rights. The overall objective of this Checklist is to support women living with HIV and community activists who care about the rights of women living with HIV to guarantee effective implementation of the WHO and UNAIDS Consolidated guideline on the SRHR of women living with HIV.

See also Web annex to the Consolidated guideline on the SRHR of women living with HIV - community-led strategies for implementation.

For people who may have been exposed to HIV, knowledge is critical to making informed decisions about their future. An HIV test is a serious event with potentially serious outcomes. But no matter the result, the test provides vital information. A negative result is an opportunity to take deliberate steps to prevent future acquisition through prevention methods tailored to that individual’s risks. A positive test result—and a confirmatory diagnosis—is never welcome news, but for people living with HIV, it is a necessary first step towards a long and healthy life.