I am writing this in memory of my colleague and dear friend Alan Silverman, a retired UNAIDS staff member and leader in the AIDS response.

Alan was one of the driving forces who created UNCARES, a groundbreaking programme to inform United Nations (UN) staff about HIV and to provide education and prevention services. UNCARES also links staff to HIV testing and to treatment if they were living with HIV.

One the goals of the programme is to ensure that staff have a better understanding of HIV and the stigma and discrimination that exists. It also teaches people how to be part of the solutions to ensure all people living with and affected by HIV can live with dignity.

Before Alan retired, he was part of a taskforce that created materials to train UN staff about issues facing key populations including men who have sex with men, LGBTI, sex workers and people who use drugs.

Alan was always trying to make the world a better place. I will miss him. He was such an incredible friend. Words can't describe the huge amount of good he did in the world, for so many of us. 

NOTE: Eric Sawyer is a retired UNAIDS staff member and pioneering AIDS activist. 

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The AIDS response in Africa has come a long way and the continent is seeing results in many areas, including the dramatic reduction in the number of babies being born with HIV and an equally dramatic increase in access to HIV treatment. Nevertheless, inequalities in access to health, especially for key populations and adolescent girls and young women, remain a major barrier to ending AIDS as a public health threat in Africa by 2030.

These issues were the focus of a high-level dialogue between the Champions for an AIDS-Free Generation in Africa, a distinguished group of former presidents and influential African leaders, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé and civil society representatives in Pretoria, South Africa, on 30 March.

The Royal Commonwealth Society, which promotes the values of the Commonwealth of Nations, has found that 41 of its 53 member states criminalize consensual same-sex relationships in some way. Across these member states, many of which are in Africa, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people face high levels of discrimination, harassment and violence in their everyday lives. 

Adolescent girls face a higher risk of HIV infection, with those in the age group 15–19 being the only age group for which AIDS-related deaths are increasing in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2015, an estimated 64% of all adolescents aged 15–19 years living with HIV in the region in 2015 were girls.

Participants in the dialogue made it clear that removing barriers that are holding back progress in the AIDS response, such as punitive laws, prosecutions, policies and practices that block access to HIV services, is critical to reaching the people being left behind.

The round-table dialogue was convened by the Champions, the Royal Commonwealth Society, Access Chapter 2, the Kaleidoscope Trust and the African Think Tank on HIV, Health and Social Justice. It is one of the advocacy mechanisms and platforms that these partners will use to respond to these complex issues.

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The hotel InterContinental Geneva and UNAIDS have agreed to continue their partnership to highlight the urgent need to increase efforts to keep children free from HIV. At a signing ceremony held at UNAIDS headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, attended by the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, and the General Manager of the InterContinental Geneva, Jurgen Baumhoff, UNAIDS and the InterContinental Geneva committed to continue their Where History is Made alliance.

Where History is Made is a public–private partnership that focuses on ensuring that all children are born free from HIV, that their mothers have access to life-saving medicines and that all children living with HIV lead healthy lives. The collaboration has helped to raise visibility and new funds for UNAIDS’ work since 2013.

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On 1 March, more than one million viewers joined an online discussion with Vera Brezhneva, UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, to mark Zero Discrimination Day. 

The goal of the event was to raise awareness of stigma and discrimination. It brought together people of different backgrounds and ages living with HIV to share their personal stories and highlight the importance of zero discrimination in health-care settings.

The discussion was part of the UNAIDS Zero Discrimination Day Make Some Noise campaign, and was cohosted by UNAIDS and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at United Nations House in Moscow, Russian Federation. The discussion was live streamed on Odnoklassniki, a leading Russian-language social media platform. 

UNAIDS estimates that 1.5 million people were living with HIV in eastern Europe and central Asia in 2015, up from 1 million in 2010.

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Travelling to Gabon to attend the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN 2017), Gervais Yao Kouassi (Gervinho), UNAIDS Special Ambassador for Youth and China–Africa Collaboration, visited the UNAIDS office in Libreville, Gabon, to meet some 50 children and young people living with or affected by HIV.

Accompanied by young Gabonese ambassadors for HIV and by artist Charly Tchatch, the animator of the opening of CAN 2017 and an AIDS activist, the international football star talked to the children and young people and listened to their stories and concerns. The children and young people talked about problems with accepting their status and stigma and depression, but also about happiness, love and how they deal with their daily problems.

“I am very touched. It is the first time I hear such poignant testimonies”, said Gervinho. “As you know, I wanted to play with my team here, but I am injured. Your mental strength and joy of life encourages me to face life’s challenges.” Gervinho signed the Protect the Goal campaign ball to support UNAIDS’ vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths at CAN 2017.

Inge Tack, the UNAIDS Country Director, mentioned to Gervinho that despite AIDS budget cuts of 60% in Gabon since 2012, treatment rates have doubled and new HIV infections have been reduced by 30%, while paediatric treatment rates have tripled and coverage of prevention of mother-to-child transmission is at 78%. However, she also noted the need to improve the management of HIV treatment provision to achieve the 90–90–90 targets. “A radical shift in the organization and management of treatment delivery services is required to achieve the 90–90–90 targets in Gabon. Medicines need to be in the centre at all times and services reoriented to better serve patients’ needs,” said Ms Tack.

Gabon experiences persistent treatment stock-outs and poor care services result in no treatment adherence follow-up, no monitoring of drug resistance and no viral load measurement. Ms Tack stressed the need for a decentralized approach for the provision of antiretroviral therapy and an increase in community-led services.

GENEVA, 18 January 2017—UNAIDS has presented Professor Peng Liyuan, the First Lady of China, with the UNAIDS Award for Outstanding Achievement in recognition of her remarkable contribution to the global response to HIV. The award was presented to Professor Peng by the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, at a special ceremony held in her honour organized by UNAIDS and the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland.

A renowned soprano singer, Professor Peng has been working on HIV and tuberculosis for more than 10 years and has advocated for a stronger response to the two diseases at major international events, including at meetings of the Group of Twenty and the United Nations General Assembly.   

“This is a great honour and I am deeply humbled,” said Professor Peng on accepting the award. “A caring heart is our best weapon against AIDS—we can save lives if we take action. We must succeed and we will succeed.”

Professor Peng’s work to break down the barriers of stigma and discrimination is allowing more people to be reached with essential HIV services. Through her work with children and young people, in particular children orphaned by AIDS, she has enabled a broader understanding of how to support children living with HIV to live a healthy life with dignity and free from discrimination.

“Professor Peng has helped to open a national conversation around HIV in China that has spread empathy and compassion for people affected by HIV,” said Mr Sidibé. “She is a true champion for the most vulnerable, especially children affected by HIV, and has helped to create an environment for children to not just survive, but thrive.”

The work of Professor Peng and other prominent advocates has made an important contribution to the scale-up and improvement of services to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV around the world. These efforts have helped to more than halve the annual number of new HIV infections among children globally since 2010. 

Progress has also been made in ensuring that children living with HIV have access to treatment. In 2005, less than 10% of children living with HIV had access to antiretroviral medicines, but heightened awareness and improvements in diagnostics and treatment availability have ensured that around 50% (870 000) of the 1.8 million children living with HIV had access to the life-saving medicines in 2015.

However, to reach the target countries committed to in the 2016 Political Declaration on Ending AIDS, the number of children accessing antiretroviral therapy needs to increase significantly, to 1.6 million children by 2018. “The world has made significant gains, but there is still much more to do and we need people like Professor Peng to continue speaking out and leading the way towards ending AIDS and tuberculosis,” said Mr Sidibé.

In 2015, Professor Peng collaborated with the Organisation of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS in Johannesburg, South Africa, speaking out on key issues critical to ending AIDS by 2030. In 2011, Professor Peng was designated as a Goodwill Ambassador for Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS by WHO. Her ambassadorship was renewed for a further term by WHO during the special ceremony.

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.

Following her participation at UNAIDS’ World AIDS Day event in New York, United States of America, Naomi Campbell has chosen UNAIDS to benefit from a US$ 100 000 donation, to be shared equally between the United Kingdom charity Save the Children and UNAIDS. Model, actress and philanthropist Naomi Campbell was invited to meet with staff at the Jersey City office of ICAP, a United Kingdom-based financial broker; during the event, a donation was made by the company to a cause of her choice. Each year, on one day in December, ICAP donates all of its global commission revenue to charity.

During the World AIDS Day event in New York, which honoured the United Nations Secretary-General and his commitment to ending AIDS, Ms Campbell spoke of her commitment to preventing and treating HIV globally. The donation will contribute to UNAIDS’ work towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

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On World AIDS Day, Prince Harry and Rihanna showed the people of Barbados and the world how simple it is to learn your HIV status.

“That was not bad,” Rihanna said as Prince Harry looked on from the bench next to her in Heroes Square, Bridgetown.

“It’s a pin prick,” he agreed.

Prince Harry and Rihanna were at the Man Aware event hosted by the Barbados National HIV/AIDS Commission. Here, the message that HIV testing is quick and easy is important for everyone, including boys and men—in Barbados, more than 85% of AIDS-related deaths are among men.

“Men are involved in high levels of risk-taking and present late for testing and treatment,” explained Jacqueline Wiltshire Gay, Director of the Barbados National HIV/AIDS Commission.

Barbados is one of the countries in the Caribbean closest to achieving control of its HIV epidemic and is currently being validated by the Pan American Health Organization for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Barbados is also on track to achieving the 90–90–90 targets of 90% of people living with HIV knowing their HIV status, 90% of people who know their HIV-positive status accessing treatment and 90% of people on treatment having suppressed viral loads. To reach the Fast-Track Targets, the country will have to change behaviours among men, who are less likely to get tested early and too often seek medical assistance too late.

Barbados is not alone. In several Caribbean countries, including Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana and Saint Lucia, the HIV epidemic is male dominated. In Trinidad and Tobago, while more females than males are getting tested for HIV, more males are testing HIV-positive. In Belize, according to UNAIDS estimates, more than half (57%) of  AIDS-related deaths in 2015 were among males.

But men often don’t think of themselves as being at risk. Although in many countries in the region there are concentrated HIV epidemics among key populations, transmission rates among the general population are also relatively high.

The Barbados World AIDS Day campaign focused on specific strategies to engage, educate and empower men. According to Ms Wiltshire Gay, there is a renewed emphasis on collaborating with civil society organizations to ensure that men are reached.

At the World AIDS Day event, HIV counsellor Fabian Sargeant told Prince Harry and Rihanna that barber shops are excellent places to raise awareness of the need for HIV testing, because men meet there to discuss various aspects of their lives, including sex and relationships. Prince Harry said that while young people want to talk about HIV, there is still a stigma associated with it in the Caribbean. He thinks that if people knew about the advances in testing and treatment, they would be more willing to come forward.

“If you are HIV-positive you can take medication for the rest of your life and have a completely normal life,” he said.

Rihanna agreed, “So many people don’t know how easy it is to get tested and how quick you get your results back and how discreet it could be. Even if you are positive, there’s so much that can be done and the sooner the better.”

It started in October with a single message written on one person’s hand: “know your status”. Nine weeks on and thousands of people from all over the world have demonstrated their support for UNAIDS’ “Hands up for #HIVprevention” campaign by sharing photos and videos expressing what HIV prevention means to them. Through a range of content, the campaign highlighted different aspects of HIV prevention week by week and showed how they relate to different groups of people, including adolescent girls and young women, key populations and people living with HIV. 

The campaign reached more than 2 million people on Facebook and 64 000 people have engaged through likes, shares and comments. On Twitter, the campaign reached almost 3 million people and UNAIDS campaign tweets were retweeted 12 000 times and liked 9500 times.

Messages that people wrote on their hands and held up for the world to see as part of the campaign include “Use condoms always”, “Provide support”, “End stigma”, “Invest”, “PrEP”, “No violence” and “Gender equality.” 

Prominent contributors included the First Lady of Benin, Claudine Talon, the First Lady of China, Peng Liyuan, the First Lady of Guinea-Bissau, Hadja Djene Kaba Condé, the First Lady of Panama, Lorena Castillo de Varella, and Tobeka Madiba Zuma, First Lady of South Africa.

UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador Michael Ballack also supported the campaign, with a message in support of zero discrimination. He was joined by James Chau, UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador for China, Vera Brezhneva, UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Alejandra Oraa, UNAIDS Regional Goodwill Ambassador for Latin America and the Caribbean. The young television star Jenna Ortega provided a powerful and personal message about why HIV prevention was important to her. Princess Tessy of Luxembourg, UNAIDS Global Advocate for Young Women and Adolescent Girls, joined the campaign in the week highlighting women’s empowerment.        

UNAIDS partners such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the President’s Emergency Fund for AIDS relief and mothers2mothers also joined in, offering powerful content and testimonies from people all over the world that showed how innovative programmes are reaching the people most in need of HIV prevention methods. 

The campaign followed the launch of the UNAIDS Prevention gap report earlier this year, which showed that an estimated 1.9 million adults have become infected with HIV every year for the past five years and that the number of new HIV infections is rising in some regions. The report shows that HIV prevention efforts must be reinvigorated if the world is to stay on the Fast-Track to ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

The campaign culminated in a call for increased investment in HIV prevention strategies targeted at the people and places most in need of them. The commitment made in the 2016 Political Declaration on Ending AIDS is to ensure that financial resources for HIV prevention are adequate and constitute no less than a quarter of AIDS spending globally.

The World AIDS Day Facebook page remains open for new contributions. UNAIDS thanks everyone who has already participated.

Get the message out: AIDS is not over, but it can be. 

Speakers urge partners to move forward together to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals  

GENEVA/NEW YORK, 30 November 2016—On the eve of World AIDS Day, UNAIDS has hosted a special event at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, United States of America, to commemorate World AIDS Day. The event, Moving Forward Together: Leaving No One Behind, was also held to honour the leadership of the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, and his remarkable contribution to the response to HIV in advance of his handover to the new Secretary-General, António Guterres, at the beginning of 2017.

Following a moment’s silence to remember the 35 million people who have lost their lives to AIDS, Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS, presented Mr Ban with the UNAIDS Award for Leadership for speaking out on behalf of, and his commitment to, the people most affected by HIV. 

Accepting the award, Mr Ban said that he was proud to be an activist for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people and spoke of his motivation. “We are motivated to fight AIDS because we know that every child deserves care, every person deserves treatment and all vulnerable groups deserve protection from stigma and abuse. Tolerance and awareness help stop AIDS. Speaking out protects life,” he said.

Mr Sidibé paid tribute to the Secretary-General and the exceptional achievements made in the AIDS response during his tenure. “Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, you have been a true champion for people living with HIV. When you arrived only three million people were on HIV treatment. Our World AIDS Day report shows that more than 18 million are now on treatment. This isn’t just about numbers, but the very lives of people. You have shown through these years that people’s dignity is central to your agenda,” he said.

Since Mr Ban assumed office as United Nations Secretary-General in January 2007, the number of people living with HIV accessing life-saving antiretroviral therapy has increased from 2.9 million at the end of 2006, to 18.2 million [16.1 million–19.0 million] in June 2016. The number of people who died from AIDS-related illnesses has halved, from 2 million in 2006 to 1.1 million in 2015, and the number of new HIV infections among children has been reduced by two thirds, from 430 000 in 2006 to 150 000 in 2015.

During the event, Mr Ban was reacquainted with Rebecca Awiti, a woman living with HIV who met the Secretary-General in 2011 during an official visit to Kenya, where he launched The Global Plan towards the elimination of new HIV infections among children and keeping their mothers alive. Ms Awiti is the mother of triplets, born free from HIV thanks to antiretroviral medicines. “You brought hope to me, my children and my children’s children that an AIDS-free generation is possible in our lifetime,” she said.

One of the founders of the global HIV treatment access movement, Eric Sawyer, praised the Secretary-General for his commitment to zero discrimination. “Mr Secretary-General, I thank you as a long-term survivor of HIV and as a long-time member of UN Plus and UN Cares, and a member of the Free and Equal campaign, for your leadership, for your compassion and for your commitment to the AIDS response, and for your commitment to equality and human rights for all,” he said.

As a special guest at the event, the First Lady of Panama, Lorena Castillo de Varela, who is also UNAIDS Special Ambassador for AIDS in Latin America, stressed the importance of breaking down the stigma still surrounding HIV and standing firm on zero discrimination. “We must all carry the torch for the Secretary-General and, as leaders, fight discrimination every day of our lives,” she said. “We must celebrate the diversity that unites us, and promote solidarity, respect, inclusion and peace.”

Kenneth Cole, amfAR Chair and a leading fashion designer, warned of a growing population that is disengaged and desensitized to the virus and said it was a critical time to coordinate and Fast-Track the effort to end AIDS. “We can contain and reverse the AIDS epidemic through a coordinated response. I strongly believe we can and must and will make AIDS history,” he said.

The President of the United Nations General Assembly, Peter Thomson, called on the world to do more and reach the clear time-bound targets set by Member States in the 2016 Political Declaration on Ending AIDS. “On this World AIDS Day, we honour those who have passed away by committing to end the AIDS epidemic, achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and build a healthy, safe, peaceful and sustainable future for us all,” he said.

Model, actress and philanthropist Naomi Campbell spoke of the triple threat facing young women and girls of not knowing their HIV status, not accessing life-saving treatment and not being empowered to protect themselves from HIV. “Today, I stand in solidarity with the millions of young women and adolescent girls growing up in a world where they are at risk of HIV,” she said. “I want to make a difference—you can count on me to do what I can to help end AIDS.”

Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, Laura Londén, underscored the importance of working as one to Fast-Track the response to HIV. “We can only reach the goal of ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 if we are serious about HIV prevention. We need to end the isolation and fear that key populations face every day,” she said.

The event culminated with an inspirational and uplifting performance by the United Nations Choir, which performed Mae, a Japanese song about moving forward.

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.