The Gallery Marie de Holmsky, in the heart of Paris, recently hosted the ArtPositive exhibition, an artistic project by visual artists living with HIV. The initiative aimed to use art as a tool to tackle the stigma, discrimination and isolation that people living with HIV still face.

ArtPositive featured works by visual artists Boré Ivanoff, Adrienne Seed and Nacho Hernandez Alvarez and by photographer Philipp Spiegel.

“We want to remind the world that AIDS is not a thing of the past. We want to remind everyone that all people living with HIV, even though thanks to advances in science they are not as threatened by death as they used to be years ago, today still face extremely cruel and unfair stigma, isolation and even discrimination,” said Mr Ivanoff. “I am convinced that art is the best way to overcome any stigma, isolation and discrimination based on differences and health status.”

About two years ago, after Mr Ivanoff, a Bulgarian-born Parisian artist, decided to make his HIV status public he received many messages of solidarity and support, but some close friends distanced themselves from him. “But this fact convinced me even more that I must continue to fight to open people’s eyes and to overcome this hypocritical way of thinking and treating people who have dared to reveal their HIV status,” he said. He emphasized that along with the creation of art, advocacy and activism are the only things that keep him in some psychological stability and give some existential impulse and a sense of doing something really important and useful for the good of humanity.

Adrienne Seed, an artist, writer, sculptor and HIV activist from Manchester, United Kingdom, who has been living with HIV for almost 10 years, recalled, “Back then, there were very few women speaking openly about living with HIV. I began to speak out via my website, via the media and, of course, via my art.”

“People living with HIV also live with stigma. We are judged by society and we are seemed to deserve some kind of punishment,” said José Manuel González Peeters, an artist living with HIV from Barcelona, Spain.

Philipp Spiegel, a photographer living with HIV from Vienna, Austria, explained that his work is part of a long-term project entitled The Privilege of Intimacy. “My HIV diagnosis stripped me of my feeling of intimacy for a long time; something that was once so natural to me had been taken away, after which I had to embark on a journey to rediscover what intimacy means to me, and to learn to appreciate it even more,” he said. “Reflecting upon this, I realized the absence of intimacy is more widespread than I had thought. Not only people living with HIV, but all people who live in fear of being ostracized or stigmatized for a wide range of reasons. Single mothers, LGBTQ+ people in certain environments or anyone who feels they need to hide out of societal reasons.”

“We, the artists living with HIV would like to express our sincere gratitude to all our official partners and all media around the world who have helped us popularize our cause, the fight against HIV stigma and the awareness that AIDS is not over yet,” said Mr Ivanoff, speaking on behalf of all the participants of ArtPositive.

“Stigma and discrimination results 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. It is great to see how a community of artists living with HIV uses art as a medium to raise awareness and to challenge the drivers of stigma and discrimination among the wider public,” said Laurel Sprague, UNAIDS Special Adviser for Community Mobilization.

The UNAIDS family is deeply saddened by the death from COVID-19 of our dear colleague and friend, Manuel de Quinta. We offer our deepest condolences to his husband Ricardo and to his family and friends in general. 

Since 2017, Manuel worked as a UNAIDS Community Support and Human Rights Adviser for the multicountry UNAIDS Office for Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. But many of us knew him in the many roles he held and the tremendous work he did around the world as part of the UNAIDS family for more than 24 years advocating for the rights and leadership of people living with HIV and the populations most vulnerable to HIV, including the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community, migrants and refugees, sex workers, indigenous peoples and young people.

Manuel represented the essence of UNAIDS’ mission and vision and the reason why all of us get up every day to fulfil our duties and purpose. As a strong advocate for human rights and social equality, he always stood up against all forms of injustice, including internally at UNAIDS, where for many years he was the Chair of the UNAIDS Staff Association.

Manuel was an HIV activist since 1990 and accumulated a vast experience of community work with organizations working on behalf of people living with HIV in several countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

He joined UNAIDS in 1997, starting in the Communications Department, managing multimedia projects on HIV. Later, in 2005, he co-founded UN Plus, an initiative that brings together United Nations system staff living with HIV. Since then, he has worked in UNAIDS teams in Geneva, Bangkok, Dakar and Buenos Aires.

Manuel was a person with great positive energy, an enormous willingness to make even the impossible possible, bringing a deep passion to everything he undertook. He was also a loyal friend to many of us.

Manuel left us at the early age of 59 years and will be deeply missed.

We wish to express our deep sorrow at his passing and to reiterate our solidarity and warmth to the great community that has worked with Manuel in the HIV response over so many years, and to all those who have known him around the world and who mourn his departure.

GENEVA, 30 April 2021—Norman Fowler, the pioneering United Kingdom Secretary of State for Health, human rights campaigner and respected Lords Speaker, will champion law reform, health for all and girls’ education worldwide to help end HIV as an ambassador for UNAIDS. 

Lord Fowler, who steps down as Lord Speaker at the end of April, will take up his new role as an advocate on AIDS in May 2021. 

In his new role, he will focus on engaging leaders across the world in advancing three transformational shifts that are central to ending AIDS: ending punitive laws against and stigmatization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people; ensuring universal access to health care; and ensuring the empowerment and education of all girls so that they finish secondary school and benefit from a dramatically reduced risk of acquiring HIV. 

Lord Fowler served as the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Health from the beginning of the HIV epidemic. He has decades of service at the highest levels of government and has been a champion for people affected by HIV and for the human rights of LGBTI people. 

The UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, said, “We can beat AIDS, but only through bold action by leaders. Lord Fowler is respected as a great parliamentarian and courageous leader across the world. He has delivered bold change to fight AIDS, and can help other leaders to do the same. We are so grateful to Lord Fowler for supporting us in this way.” 

Lord Fowler said, “As I said when I announced that I was stepping down as Lord Speaker, I am not retiring, only resigning. I am determined to see the end of AIDS, and to see the end of the inequalities that stand in the way of the end of AIDS. We have come so far but this last mile is the most challenging one. The COVID-19 crisis is not a reason to step back but a reason to step up and beat AIDS.”

This is a key year for the HIV response, which marks the fortieth anniversary of the discovery of HIV. This year will also see the United Nations High-Level Meeting on AIDS, at which leaders will set out the steps they will take to achieve the end of AIDS by 2030.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

On 1 March, people around the world join together to celebrate Zero Discrimination Day, which this year highlighted the urgent need to take action to end inequalities.

In recent years, the Central African Republic has made the reduction of health inequalities a national priority. In mid-2019, 10 priority areas towards universal health coverage were established. These include the objective of ensuring that every citizen in the country has access to a health centre within 5 km of his or her home.

The country was the first to join the Global Partnership for Action to Eliminate all Forms of HIV-Related Stigma and Discrimination, which through harnessing the combined power of, and using the unique skills of, governments, civil society and the United Nations aims to consign HIV-related stigma and discrimination to history.

To mark Zero Discrimination Day this year, the country organized several activities ahead of and during the day. A declaration recalling the government’s commitment to non-discrimination and equality was issued by the Minister of Health and Population on television and radio. “It is only by addressing inequalities that we can achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, including those related to well-being and health for all,” said Pierre Somse, the Minister of Health and Population.

Recent studies show that inequality and stigma are major obstacles to access to health services. For example, more than 80% of people living with HIV in the country report having experienced discrimination or stigma. “These challenges are further compounded by conflicts and attacks on populations and health personnel that deprive hundreds of thousands of our citizens of their rights, including the right to life, dignity and health,” Mr Somse added.

A civil society consultation was organized to flesh out the priorities for the elimination of stigma and discrimination in the country. A round-table meeting was also held on a national network of human rights journalists radio programme to raise awareness on the negative impact of stigma and discrimination as a major barrier to people taking up HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services. Speaking on the programme, Aminata Adoum, of the National Association of Women Lawyers, highlighted the work of her organization in supporting women living with HIV against discrimination and violence.

On Zero Discrimination Day 2020, health professionals, including professional organizations of doctors, nurses and midwives, as well as patients’ associations, signed a National Charter for Quality of Care and Patients’ Rights that sets the principles of humanism, ethics and respect for dignity to guide relations between patients and health-care providers. This year, the patients’ charter was posted in health facilities in the capital city, Bangui, and dedicated sensitization sessions on the charter took place for medical staff in two major health-care centres in the capital.

“This Zero Discrimination Day campaign is part of a comprehensive set of priority activities to address human rights barriers to HIV services that the country will be implementing over the next three years, including community-led monitoring of human rights violations, know your rights education, legal services, the development of anti-discrimination law and engagement with community leaders, legislators and opinion-makers,” said Patrick Eba, the UNAIDS Country Director for the Central African Republic.

GENEVA, 29 September 2020—Survivors of COVID-19 from 37 countries are among almost 1,000 people who have signed an open letter to pharmaceutical industry leaders calling for a ‘people's vaccine’ and treatments that are available to all – free from patents. The letter comes on the eve of a high-level side event about the pandemic at the UN General Assembly in New York tomorrow (30 September).

The signatories include 242 COVID-19 survivors from South Africa to Finland and New Zealand to Brazil. They also include 190 people in 46 countries who have lost relatives to the virus, and 572 signatories with underlying health conditions that mean they are more likely to develop severe forms of COVID-19 and have a greater risk of dying from it.

The letter says: “Some of us have lost loved ones to this killer disease. Some of us have come close to death ourselves. Some of us are continuing to live in fear that contracting this disease would be fatal for us. We see no justification why your profit or monopolies should mean anyone else should go through this.”

It describes pharmaceutical corporations as “carrying on with business as usual - defending monopolies while refusing to share research and know-how” and calls on industry leaders to “ensure COVID-19 vaccines and treatments reach everyone who needs them by preventing monopolies, ramping up production and sharing knowledge.”

Pharmaceutical monopolies will restrict the production of effective vaccines and treatments to a small number of manufacturers, preventing the mass production that is needed to meet global demand. The letter demands that corporations immediately license vaccine technology and intellectual property rights to the WHO COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP).

One of the signatories, Dilafruz Gafurova, 43, from Tajikistan, said: “Me and my husband got sick with this disease. We could only rely on ourselves as hospitals were full … It was really difficult to get the right medicines. I am a mother of four children … I was afraid to leave them alone in this world if something bad could happen with me … The reason I am signing this letter is to help others to get [a] vaccine. Not all the people around the world can get this vaccine, as they simply cannot afford it. They hardly [have enough to meet] their daily needs.”

The letter was organised by the People's Vaccine Alliance, a global coalition of organisations and activists united under a common aim of campaigning for a people’s vaccine for COVID-19 that is based on shared knowledge and is freely available to everyone everywhere.

Tomorrow at the UN General Assembly, Bill Gates and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be among other high-profile figures discussing vaccine access. So far rich nations have failed to exert pressure on pharmaceutical corporations to share technology to maximise the supply of successful vaccines and treatments worldwide.

Heidi Chow from Global Justice Now, a member of the People’s Vaccine Alliance said: “Pharmaceutical companies need to pay attention to the demands of people from around the world who have experienced the fear and devastation of COVID-19. The industry cannot block its ears to these voices but should respond immediately by ending their monopolies and commit to sharing manufacturing know-how. These actions are crucial to expand vaccine supplies so that all countries can affordably access effective vaccines.”

Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS, said: "With AIDS we saw that when treatments were found the wealthier people in wealthier countries got back to health, while millions of people in developing countries were left to die. We must not repeat the same mistake when a vaccine for COVID-19 is found. The right to health is a human right—it should not depend on the money in your pocket or the colour of your skin to be vaccinated against this deadly virus. A vaccine should be a global public good and free of charge for all."

A COVID-19 VACCINE FOR ALL

The Alliance is also calling on governments to make public funding for research and development of COVID-19 diagnostics, vaccines and treatments conditional on pharmaceutical companies sharing their knowledge and technology free from patents. When an effective vaccine is available, the Alliance demands that doses are fairly distributed with priority given to health workers and other at-risk groups in all countries.

Notes to editors:

Read the full text of the letter

The high-level side events, titled Accelerating the end of the COVID-19 pandemic: taking new solutions to scale and making them equitably accessible, to save lives, protect health systems and restart the global economy, will take place on 30 September at the 75^th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. Among the participants are the UN Secretary General, WHO Director General, leaders of a range of countries including the UK and South Africa and UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima.

The open letter has been signed by 941 people. They include 242 COVID-19 survivors from the following 37 countries: Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Burundi, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lebanon, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Russia, Senegal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain

Sweden, Tajikistan, Uganda, UK, USA and Zambia. Some people fell into more than one category and a list of the signatories is available on request. The letter has been sent to the pharmaceutical companies behind the 11 vaccine candidates that are currently in Phase 3 trials.

People’s Vaccine Alliance is a coalition of organisations and activists united under a common aim of campaigning for a ‘people’s vaccine’ for COVID-19 that is based on shared knowledge and is freely available to everyone everywhere. A global common good. It is coordinated by Oxfam and UNAIDS and its members include Frontline AIDS, Global Justice Now, Nizami Ganjavi International Center, STOPAIDS, Wemos and the Yunus Centre. More than 140 world leaders, former leaders and economists have called on governments to unite behind a people’s vaccine against COVID-19.

Earlier this month, an analysis by Oxfam revealed that a small group of wealthy nations representing just 13 percent of the world’s population have already bought up more than half (51 percent) of the future doses of leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates. 

Founder of Gay Men’s Health Crisis, ACT UP and award-winning playwright sadly dies aged 84

GENEVA, 28 May 2020—The AIDS movement has lost one of its earliest and leading activists, Larry Kramer, who passed away on 27 May 2020 in New York City. Mr Kramer was one of the first to raise the alarm in the United States of America about the spread of the AIDS epidemic and throughout his life he actively rallied support to accelerate research into treatment and support for people living with HIV.

“Larry Kramer was a remarkable leader and activist whose actions helped to save the lives of millions of people living with HIV around the world,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “He was a passionate and committed disrupter who made change happen. He wasn’t afraid to provoke and shock leaders and officials to react, which is what was needed, and often still is needed to bring the reality of what was happening on the ground to the centre of media attention and political action.”

In 1982, enraged by seeing friends die from the disease, Mr Kramer co-founded Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) to accelerate action from the scientific community and government. GMHC was the first organization to offer support to people living with and affected by HIV and on its first day of operation its AIDS-hotline received more than 100 calls asking for advice and help. Based in New York City, GMHC continues to fight to end the AIDS epidemic and uplift the lives of all affected. 

In 1987, Mr Kramer helped to found ACT UP, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power. ACT UP took a radical approach to AIDS activism, staging demonstrations, protests and die-ins at pharmaceutical companies, in churches, on Wall Street and Broadway and at government institutions. ACT UP’s campaigning helped to spur progress in research for experimental medicines for HIV treatment and make them available more quickly and more equitably, and at an affordable price. Today, ACT UP is an international, grassroots political group working to end AIDS and improve the lives of people living with and affected by HIV through direct action, medical research, treatment and advocacy, and is working to change legislation and public policies.

Mr Kramer was also a celebrated playwright and novelist, and a leading gay rights activist. He won a series of awards for his screenplays and plays, including a Tony award for his autobiographical play, “The Normal Heart," which tells the story of the AIDS crisis in New York City in the early 1980s.

UNAIDS shares its deep sadness and offers condolences to his husband and all who knew and loved him. He will be sadly missed.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Pia Wurtzbach, Miss Universe 2015 and UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador for Asia and the Pacific, has long been an advocate for the AIDS response in the Philippines and the rest of the region. Recently, however, her work has taken in support for the COVID-19 response, including starting a fundraising effort with the aim of distributing 25 000 face masks to hospitals in Manila and supporting social media campaigns on preventing both COVID-19 and HIV.

UNAIDS spoke to Ms Wurtzbach about her work during this challenging time.

How did you organize the drive to donate face masks to health facilities in Manila?

To begin with, I ordered 5000 masks with my own money to identify an affordable and reputable supplier. I found one and ordered the masks and then delivered them to four hospitals. Once I was ready and confident, I started the fundraising drive, reaching out to the private sector in the Philippines and my network of contacts. So far, I have been able to donate masks to 30 hospitals in Metro Manila. We wanted to deliver masks to other hospitals outside the capital city, but because of the lockdown this hasn’t been possible yet. In addition, I have been able to donate meals to an intensive care unit in one of the hospitals in Metro Manila. Nurses and doctors working in the unit have been living in the hospital and do not go home. With the donations, I feel I am supporting them.

How do you continue to support the response to HIV in your role as a UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador?

Every day I am in contact with LoveYourself, the civil society organization I volunteer for in the Philippines, to update each other on what is going on and to monitor the needs of people living with HIV. I post information on my social media platforms about HIV and COVID-19 prevention and how to stay healthy. I keep my followers informed of the services provided by LoveYourself to support people living with HIV during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as home delivery of antiretroviral medicines.

What questions do you receive from people living with HIV or from key populations in relation to HIV and COVID-19?

The most popular questions are how to access medicines and whether there are going to be enough refills. It is great that organizations like LoveYourself in the Philippines help people living with HIV to access their medicines. I am really impressed with Vinn (Ronivin Garcia Pagtakhan), the founder of LoveYourself, because he has been using his own car driving around everywhere delivering medicines to people’s homes. He is like a modern-day superhero.

How have you kept motivated to continue your work in these trying times?

I am so blessed because I have a lot of friends in the industry who are nurses too. You will be surprised that my makeup artist is a registered nurse, and there are photographers who are registered nurses. In the Philippines, there are so many nurses that somehow end up doing other careers, but they are all still in the medical field and they know people in the medical field. I hear so many stories from them, and I know these are real stories about what the hospitals are like and about their environment.

Hearing their stories made me feel like I needed to do something. I feel very fortunate that I am able to stay at home. So, I thought to myself, what can I do to make myself useful? This is why I started my donation drive. The medical staff sent me messages of appreciation and even a video of them saying thank you. When I see that the people on the frontline take the time to say thank you, I want to help even more.

The fundraising campaign gave me a sense of mission and purpose. That is what I tell people. If you are at home and you have followers on Instagram, or maybe you are an influencer or a celebrity, or maybe you are just popular in school, use it! Now is the time! We cannot just sit and wait for this to be over. The solution has to come from us.

What do you miss most from your life before the COVID-19 pandemic?

I feel like I took the little things for granted. I took for granted the little commute going to work, I took for granted the travelling, I took for granted how busy I was with my work. I remember before the lockdown I got burnout because I was doing so much work. I was not getting any free days or any weekends—I was working from Monday to Sunday. And I said to myself that I needed some time alone. And then suddenly this all happened. I am just taking the time now to reflect and think about what is really important to me.

I miss everything. I miss being able to walk outside, I miss the traffic, I miss seeing other people. I feel that the lockdown is really giving us time to think about what is important for us. I feel like when we get out of the quarantine and self-isolation, we will know what to prioritize.

How do you spend your leisure now being at home in quarantine?

You know, the good thing about the lockdown is that I have more time for myself. Every day I go to the roof deck of my building to work out, so I bring my yoga mat up there and spend a few hours trying to get some sunlight and exercise. I have a routine every day, and I feel like if you have a little routine, you will feel like your days have direction. When I wake up in the morning, I try to get emails done and some work done. In the afternoon, I will work out. And at night I can bake, or watch television, watch Netflix. So, it is work, sunlight and then “me time”. I feel like this is a nice balance, because it is making yourself productive and taking care of yourself.

What are your next steps after you reach the target of donating 25 000 masks?

It is not set in stone, but my team and I are thinking of ways to help people who need economic support and donate them food. In addition, I would like to focus on social media messages on mental health to give people tips on how to control or manage their anxiety. People are at home and on their phones, so maybe they can read something that will help them manage their stress.

In the 15 years since I went public with my diagnosis of HIV, it remains daunting to stand in front of a new audience and share my story. Though I expect them, I have never quite gotten used to the disbelief and shock I see in people’s eyes, the jaws gone slack, the overwhelming empathy. Because we have come such a long way in the journey against HIV, my story now is a happy one, meant to inspire people to know more, do more, support more so we can reach all those who still need access to prevention, testing, treatment. I do what I do because I hope others will feel more comfortable getting tested and treated for HIV if they see someone who has been healed, who is still embraced by their family, friends, colleagues and community.

And yet, while I have done it many times, and it’s a story with a positive bent, each time I share it publicly my heart pounds and my mouth runs dry. Early in my days of disclosure, a friend suggested I look for a smiling face in the crowd, someone who looked strong and positive, so I could absorb their energy and stay calm and upbeat even as I was full of fear.

Recently, the Atlantic invited me to a talk for World AIDS Day in Washington, DC, and I was particularly nervous. Having been at UNAIDS for nearly six years at the time, I was out of practice having my personal journey with HIV be the focus of my work. I knew a lot of people in the audience, professionally, but not personally. As I took the stage, I found myself shaking. I sat down, straightened the creases in my pants and scanned the room hoping for an encouraging looking face.

And then I saw Maeve. She smiled that radiant, confident smile that could say so many different things, as needed, in any moment. She seemed to understand that this was different, that it was personal, and that I was afraid. She nodded. And just like that, I was fine. I took a deep breath and told a room full of strangers and professional colleagues about what it’s like to live with HIV, to face the fear of death, the stigma, the treatment, the guilt that you have survived and others have not.

These last days, mourning her loss, I remembered a conversation I had with Maeve about the idea of survivor guilt. She pointed out that those of us who work daily to protect and extend the lives of others shouldn’t feel guilty, but rather, responsible—it was an idea that came from the AIDS community. I loved that idea. Survivor guilt became survivor responsibility to me because of Maeve.

Maeve’s amazing contributions to social justice, to global health, to policies that made people’s lives safer, longer, happier and healthier are multitudinous. A public health and human rights lawyer, Maeve’s deep commitment to immigrants, refugees, women and children, including issues of violence, and rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people, was rarely matched. She inspired so many of us and served as a role model in myriad ways. Many words have been said about her contributions by many who knew her longer or better than I did. But perhaps because I knew her less well, and yet felt that she was there deeply, personally, profoundly for me when she could sense I needed it, several times, I can uniquely appreciate some of Maeve’s finest qualities. She had an almost extrasensory perception of what was needed, especially in delicate moments. She shared her strength, her courage, and in doing so, made difficult things seem possible, doable.

From Capitol Hill in the United States of America, where she worked for Senator Dianne Feinstein, to the Peace Corps in Mozambique, where she was a volunteer, to the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, where she served in various roles for President Barack Obama, Maeve’s ability to advance social justice was remarkable. Her lifelong commitment to public service was infused with her effervescent spirit, her indefatigable energy and that famous smile, capable of lighting up a whole room and lifting your heart.

It is difficult to describe the loss one feels when someone like Maeve leaves us. The world hardly makes sense. Why would someone so talented, so helpful, so selfless, so beautiful in every sense be taken so early? It raises all kinds of existential questions. And creates a new type of survivor guilt in those of us who were not taken instead. But remembering that conversation I had with Maeve and, in her honour, instead of being sad, I will recommit myself to the work with an even deeper sense of responsibility to carry on, to continue to try to extend the kinds of elemental forces for good she so often instigated.

A granddaughter of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy and grandniece of former President John F. Kennedy, Maeve embodied the best qualities of a global humanitarian. The effects of her efforts will be felt for generations to come. It will take many of us working together to fill the gaps left by Maeve. But she lives on through and in us. I know I, for one, whenever I think something is too hard, or too daunting, will conjure her smile, see her nod and simply get on with it, as I know she would do.

Maeve worked with many UNAIDS colleagues over the last decade and was a strong ally of the organization. UNAIDS deeply mourns her loss and the whole of its global staff extend our heartfelt condolences to her family.

Regan Hofmann, Director, a.i., United States Liaison Office, UNAIDS

A new film about HIV in the Russian Federation by YouTuber and journalist Yuri Dud is stirring people’s interest about the epidemic in the country.

Since its release on 11 February, the video has been viewed by more than 14 million people, and the number of online searches about HIV and HIV testing has skyrocketed. According to Google Trends, the number of searches on where to buy an HIV test has increased by 4000% since the launch of the video—the highest level of interest in HIV and HIV testing in the past five years.

In the film, published on his YouTube channel, Mr Dud talks to people living with HIV, activists, experts and journalists. Through his interviews, the film voices some of the taboos surrounding HIV in Russian society, including condom use, and looks into the drug use epidemic in the country, the services available for people who use drugs and the lack of sex education, among other things.

It is clear in the film that younger people still lack basic information about HIV—things like the difference between HIV and AIDS, the effectiveness of treatment or even how the virus is transmitted are still mysteries for many in the country. “You can touch people living with HIV, exchange clothes, swim in the same pool, drink from the same mug, cuddle, kiss. It's stupid to be squeamish about people living with HIV. It is much better to be squeamish about unprotected sex and drugs. These are still the two main modes of HIV transmission,” said Mr Dud.

The popularity of the film has prompted government officials to take a closer look at the HIV epidemic and response.

“Yuri Dud’s film about HIV is undoubtedly useful. It provides a lot of important information and motivates people to get tested for HIV,” said Oleg Salagai, Deputy Health Minister, in his Telegram channel. Mr Salagai emphasized how the film draws attention to the issue of the stigma endured by people living with HIV. “HIV is not a death sentence anymore. It is very important that people living with HIV have access to HIV treatment to live a healthy and fulfilling life,” he wrote.

Mr Salagai was not the only government official reacting to the video.

Alexei Kudrin, the Head of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, promised to carry out a review of the effectiveness of HIV prevention and care programmes in the country. “This year, the Accounts Chamber will analyse the effectiveness of government resources allocated to people living with HIV in the Russian Federation,” he said.

And the first Deputy Head of the State Duma Health Committee, Fedot Tumusov, invited members of parliament to watch the film and discuss to the HIV situation in the Russian Federation. He is also planning a round-table meeting in the State Duma to explore ways to improve access to HIV prevention and treatment.

“The public response to Mr Dud’s film is incredible. However, even such a successful action is not enough. We need consistent and long-term activities to raise HIV awareness coupled with programmatic actions to ensure access to HIV testing and treatment for all,” said Alexander Goliusov, Director, a.i., of the UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Eastern Europe and central Asia, of which the Russian Federation is a part, has the fastest growing HIV epidemic in the world. Most new HIV infections in the Russian Federation are among key populations, including people who inject drugs, despite the well-documented power of harm reduction programmes, where available, to reduce new HIV infections—insufficient access to sterile injecting equipment and the unavailability of opioid substitution therapy are stymying efforts in the country to prevent HIV infections among people who inject drugs.

Gunilla Carlsson, the UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Management and Governance, commemorated World AIDS Day in Brussels, Belgium, celebrating the power of communities with civil society and Barbara Trachte, the Secretary of State of the Brussels-Capital Region.

Ms Carlsson presented some of the key messages from Power to the people, UNAIDS’ new report, which shows that when people have the power to choose, to know, to thrive, to demand and to work together, lives are saved, injustices are prevented and dignity is restored.

“The AIDS response shows that when communities are empowered and have agency, change happens. Now more than ever we need a fully funded community-led response,” said Ms Carlsson.

She thanked the Regional Government of Brussels and the Federal Government of Belgium for its support for people living with HIV and the organizations working on HIV and related sexual and reproductive health and rights. For many years, Belgium has invested energy and resources to meet the needs of the most vulnerable and communities affected by HIV around the world, with a strong focus on human rights, gender equality, key populations, strengthening health systems and sexual and reproductive health and rights.

"Today, on 1 December, it is important to reinforce that undetectable = untransmittable in order to change society’s view of people living with HIV,” said Thierry Martin, Director of Plateforme Prévention Sida.

During her visit to Belgium, Ms Carlsson also met with the Minister-President of Flanders, Jan Jambon, and signed a new two-year partnership agreement with UNAIDS. Flanders has been a valued and prominent partner since the founding of UNAIDS and has invested energy and resources to meet the needs of communities affected by HIV, with a focus on vulnerable populations and girls in southern Africa.

Mr Jambon expressed confidence in renewing the long-term partnership agreement with UNAIDS. “Since its inception, UNAIDS has been working towards a multisectoral, rights-based and people-centred approach that addresses the determinants of health and well-being for the AIDS response, especially the most vulnerable populations, including the LGBTQI+ communities, and this is now more relevant than ever,” he said.

Mr Jambon also welcomed the reforms within UNAIDS to reinforce a positive workplace culture. “I am confident that with the new policies in place and the new leadership, this will enable staff to deliver at their best and maximize their collective results,” he said.

Ms Carlsson also attended a panel discussion with members of the parliament and representatives of civil society and the United Nations, where she provided an update on the status of the HIV epidemic and response, highlighting key actions for support by the European Parliament and European Union. She emphasized the important role that parliamentarians play in the global response to HIV.