Update

UNAIDS and Wits RHI to work together on ending the AIDS epidemic in eastern and southern Africa

03 September 2014

UNAIDS and the University of Witwatersrand Reproductive Health and HIV Institute (Wits RHI) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in order to combine efforts towards ending the AIDS epidemic in eastern and southern Africa. The MoU was signed on 3 September at a ceremony in Johannesburg, South Africa, by UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé and the Executive Director of Wits RHI, Helen Rees.

UNAIDS and Wits RHI will work with governments and partners to develop and implement a regional strategy on ending the AIDS epidemic, analyse programmatic gaps and increase access to antiretroviral therapy as a preventative measure for people at higher risk of exposure to HIV. They will also work more closely on integrating HIV and tuberculosis services and on developing a regional index on social justice to strengthen advocacy work around human rights and the protection of people living with HIV, populations at higher risk and women and children.  

UNAIDS and Wits RHI will further collaborate on enhancing HIV awareness and prevention education, reducing legal barriers, strengthening social protection for young people and ending gender-based violence.

Quotes

“Ending the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat in the next decades is within our reach. This partnership will be critical in challenging this vision, addressing the existing gaps and redefining the AIDS response post-2015.”

Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director

“We have not yet reached a point of zero; we are not done with AIDS in South Africa or in the region. We are at a point where we need to build strategic partnerships to make sure that we do not reverse our results and build on those gains beyond 2015.”

Helen Rees, Executive Director of Wits RHI