The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown imposed by the Government of the Philippines to curb the spread of the disease are impacting the lives of people living with HIV across the country, creating a serious challenge to accessing life-saving antiretroviral therapy. To help address those challenges, civil society organizations have come together to support people living with HIV to access treatment. 

“UNAIDS has regularly coordinated with civil society organization since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, providing technical guidance and ensuring synergy with the efforts of the government,” said Louie Ocampo, UNAIDS Country Director for the Philippines.

The United Nations Development Programme and UNAIDS have developed a rapid survey to assess the different issues affecting people living with HIV in the Philippines. In addition to access-related issues, the results of the survey show the urgent need to protect human rights and facilitate access to mental health and social protection services. The findings have been shared with the government in order to ensure that actions are based on the constantly evolving situation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The United Nations in Nigeria and the Nigerian Government launched the COVID-19 Basket Fund to harmonize investments in a national pandemic response plan. UNAIDS and UNDP were tasked to facilitate the establishment of the COVID-19 Basket Fund. The Basket Fund will serve as the one COVID-19 financing and investment platform for diverse stakeholders to channel their financial support to ensure an efficient, effective and impactful response to the coronavirus pandemic.

UNAIDS supported the training of 50 Central African journalists on evidence-informed and ethical journalism in the response to #COVID2019 & other pandemics.

Facts, not fear. Compassion, not stigma. Great to work with MoH, @UN_CAR, @ONU_RCA, @OMSCentrafrique, @UNICEF_CAR on evidence-informed and ethical journalism in the response to #COVID2019 & other pandemics. https://t.co/NETbU4SPJg

— Patrick Eba (@EbaPatrick) March 26, 2020