The UNAIDS and Lancet Commission: Defeating AIDS – Advancing global health, reconvenes in London for final meeting on the future of HIV and global health
LONDON/GENEVA, 13 February 2014—The UNAIDS and Lancet Commission: Defeating AIDS – Advancing global health is meeting in London on the future of AIDS and global health in the post-2015 era—the recommendations will be published in The Lancet later this year.
“The fight against AIDS is not over yet. We need to intensify efforts to achieve a historic victory against this disease,” said the President of the Republic of Ghana John Dramani Mahama. “Everyone has a key role to play in achieving this objective. We have to take action to ensure that we are doing the best possible for our countries, for our people and for humanity.”
“We have made remarkable progress in the fight against AIDS but the fight is not over and complacency is our worst enemy,” said the President of Benin, Yayi Boni through a video message. “Ending AIDS and extreme poverty is a shared responsibility that must be a priority for Africa and the world.”
The Commission, which was established in early 2013 brings together more than 40 Heads of State and political leaders, HIV and health experts, young people, activists, scientists and private sector representatives to ensure that lessons learned in the AIDS response can be applied to transform how countries and partners approach health and development.
“This Commission bears an historic role, based on accumulated knowledge and technologies, to find new approaches and to redouble its efforts in defeating HIV as regards the next generation,” pointed out the First Lady of Japan Akie Abe. “We must proceed while leaving no one behind. We must apply the achievements of the AIDS response to other areas for realizing better health.”
“Equal access to HIV services will halt and reverse the epidemic and contribute to economic growth and people's well-being,” said the First Lady of Gabon Sylvia Bongo Ondimba. “That is why HIV services must be integrated in all countries' development plans.”
“We have managed to provide treatment and care for people living with HIV but now many also face non-communicable diseases,” said the First Lady of Rwanda Jeannette Kagame. “The changing nature of the disease is an illustration of how difficult it is to find a cure or vaccine so we must be adaptive and responsive. Africa should be ready! The worst is behind us. Now we know how to prevent, how to treat and how to care. We should build from what we have started and do it yesterday.”
The Commission, convened by Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS and Richard Horton, Editor-in-Chief of The Lancet, is co-chaired by Malawi President Joyce Banda, African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Director Peter Piot.
As part of the Commissions’ efforts to provide a framework for informing how to address AIDS and health in the context of the post-2015 development agenda, dialogues have been held across regions, bringing together diverse perspectives to inform the discussions of the Commission’s London meeting. The final recommendations will be compiled in a comprehensive report which will be published in the medical journal The Lancet.
