Update

The International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC) hosted its 2018 Controlling the HIV Epidemic Summit in Geneva, Switzerland, on 3 and 4 May. Speakers at the summit discussed new metrics for assessing progress in national and subnational HIV responses as well as scaling up HIV services to include other health conditions, such as tuberculosis.

Soumya Swaminathan, the Deputy Director-General of the World Health Organization, gave the keynote address, emphasizing the importance of integrating and linking health services. For example, people living with HIV should have access to testing and treatment of noncommunicable diseases.

Tim Martineau, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Programme, a.i., highlighted that in mid-2017 nearly 21 million people had access to treatment, but 15.8 million still did not. In addition, as of 2016, new HIV infections were off the 2020 target of fewer than 500 000 infections per year. He stressed that more needs to be done for key populations and young women and adolescent girls. 

Deborah Birx, United States Global AIDS Coordinator and Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy, explained how the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief zeroed in on 13 countries for epidemic control. Resources alone, she said, cannot bring about change. Political will, government commitment, reducing stigma and data analysis are key to ending AIDS. Once core policies are adopted based on programme needs and gaps, with community involvement, countries can really scale up national efforts, she said.

All agreed that one size does not fit all. The response has to be tailored to countries and segments of the population. Among the encouraging strategies are HIV self-testing kits, increasing nurses’ responsibilities, male corners where male nurses and doctors provide care and treatment and same-day treatment for people testing HIV-positive in order to avoid a second visit to health centres.