Despite the scorching Abidjan heat, the Salam Plateau mosque stayed cool as imams, pastors, fathers and members of various religious groups along with women welcomed a UNAIDS delegation.

Imam Djiguiba Cissé gave an overview of his mosque and said that he and all the faith leaders gathered wanted to join UNAIDS in promoting HIV awareness.

Forty years of science and treatment have led to great progress in the AIDS response but now it's time to tackle stigma and discrimination, explained UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Luiz Loures. Mr Loures reiterated that he needed faith leaders' help in making sure that violence against women is no longer tolerated and that men are better informed regarding HIV.

The imam said that compassion was a guiding principle of all faiths and that it should apply to faith leaders when they interact and care for people living with HIV. He also said that one of their objectives was to promote women. Women carry the greater burden of HIV globally and gender inequality is in large part responsible. Mr Cissé stressed that it was key to end violence against women and female genital mutilation.  Female genital mutilation is  prevalent in the north, north-eastern and western regions of Africa. Not only are there no known health benefits, it is painful and traumatic and can cause immediate and long-term health consequences to girls and women. The imam's final point to the congregation was to engage men to overcome some of these challenges and give young men a chance. More than 60% of Côte d'Ivoire's population is under 25 years of age, he explained, saying that more boys were resorting to migration or terrorism because they feel left out.

In January 2018, faith leaders led by Mr Cissé and with the help of UNAIDS are to attend an HIV awareness training encompassing the issues of stigma, status and empowerment. 

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UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé visited a generic medicine manufacturer in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on 24 March following his attendance at a meeting of francophone mayors on HIV. CIPHARM, the leading pharmaceutical company in Côte d’Ivoire, produces a number of medicines, ranging from antihistamines to antibiotics. During the visit, Ibrahim Diawara, the Chief Executive Officer of CIPHARM, told Mr Sidibé that the company wanted to begin the production of antiretroviral medicines.

UNAIDS has been encouraging the local production of antiretroviral medicines in Africa, the continent with the highest HIV burden. In western and central Africa, three out four people living with HIV do not have access to treatment.

Mr Sidibé committed UNAIDS’ help for CIPHARM to fulfil the norms of the World Health Organization for antiretroviral therapy production and to promote regional and local production.

Since 2014, the Economic Community of West African States has pursued a Regional Pharmaceutical Plan to strengthen its pharmaceutical industry and ensure the production of quality, safe and affordable medicines accessible by the region’s population. 

UNAIDS is working with countries to ensure that, by 2020, 30 million people living with HIV are accessing treatment.

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Francophone mayors gathered in Côte d’Ivoire’s capital, Abidjan, on 23 and 24 March to discuss the HIV responses in their cities. Abidjan’s Governor, Robert Beugré Mambe, and the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, convened, with the help of UNAIDS, the two-day meeting with 20 mayors, mostly from western and central Africa.

The meeting comes more than two years after mayors from around the world signed the Paris Declaration to end the AIDS epidemic in their cities.

The mayors who signed the Paris Declaration committed to putting cities on the Fast-Track to ending the AIDS epidemic through a set of commitments. Those commitments include achieving the 90–90–90 targets, which will result in 90% of people living with HIV knowing their HIV status, 90% of people who know their HIV-positive status on treatment and 90% of people on treatment with suppressed viral loads. Several cities, including Paris, are already close to reaching 90–90–90.

Niamey (Niger), Nouakchott (Mauritania), Tunis (Tunisia), Antananarivo (Madagascar) and L’Acul (Haiti) signed the Paris Declaration in Abidjan, bringing the total number of signatory cities worldwide to 215.

During the opening ceremony, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé congratulated Côte d’Ivoire for being one of the countries with the most cities to have signed the Paris Declaration.

In western and central Africa, three out of four people living with HIV do not have access to treatment. This is a sharp contrast with eastern and southern Africa, where average treatment coverage in 2015 was 54%. UNAIDS and partners have therefore launched a catch-up plan to ensure that 1.8 million people in eight western and central African countries access treatment. The plan, Mr Sidibé said, can only succeed with cities and mayors as focal points throughout the region.

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The President of Côte d’Ivoire, Alassane Dramane Ouattara, has met with the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, during his visit to the country to speak as a special guest at the seventh session of the National AIDS Council.

During the meeting, the President and Mr Sidibé discussed the recent advances in the national response to HIV, including the reduction in new HIV infections, the reduction in AIDS-related deaths and the 25% increase in the number of people living with HIV on treatment in just one year. They also talked about the many challenges that still lie ahead, including scaling up HIV testing, access to treatment and how to avoid loss to follow-up, particularly for children.

Mr Sidibé thanked the President for the US$ 1 million contribution to UNAIDS and welcomed the considerable efforts of Côte d’Ivoire to increase domestic resources for its response to HIV by 400%.

The local production of medicines was also discussed, particularly in the context of western and central Africa, where only one person in four currently has access to treatment.

The President thanked UNAIDS for its continued support to the response to HIV in Côte d’Ivoire and agreed to be a champion for UNAIDS’ catch-up plan for western and central Africa, which will ensure that more people across the region have access to essential HIV prevention and treatment services.

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Côte d’Ivoire’s National AIDS Council has held its seventh session in the capital, Abidjan. The high-level meeting, co-chaired by the Vice-President of Côte d’Ivoire, Daniel Kablan Duncan, and the Prime Minister, Amadou Gon Coulibaly, was attended by government ministers and representatives of the United Nations, civil society and the private sector, as well as religious and community leaders.

The Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, was invited to speak at the meeting and reminded participants that the response to HIV urgently needs stepping up in western and central Africa, since the region has not made the progress seen in other parts of the world.

He emphasized the need to revolutionize HIV testing and called for a multisectoral approach and continued work with religious leaders and mayors to break down stigma and discrimination around HIV in the region. He also asked for Côte d’Ivoire to embrace and champion a catch-up plan for western and central Africa to bolster efforts to increase access to HIV prevention, testing and treatment services.

During the meeting, the Minister of Health, Raymonde Goudou Coffie, presented Côte d’Ivoire’s National Strategic Plan 2016–2020 and gave an overview of the state of the epidemic in the country. She talked about the progress made towards the 90–90–90 targets, saying that the estimates showed that currently 70% of people living with HIV in Côte d’Ivoire knew their HIV status, 44% of people who knew their status were accessing antiretroviral treatment and 36% of people accessing treatment had suppressed viral loads. She announced that Côte d’Ivoire is now offering immediate access to treatment to everyone testing positive for HIV, which is expected to boost progress towards achieving the 90–90–90 targets.

She also announced that 80% of pregnant women living with HIV were now accessing treatment in Côte d'Ivoire and gave a special mention to the contribution of the work of the First Lady, Dominique Ouattara, to increasing access to treatment for expectant mothers living with HIV. The First Lady is a UNAIDS Special Ambassador for the Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission and the Promotion of Paediatric Treatment for HIV.

While in Côte d’Ivoire, Mr Sidibé met with the President of Côte d’Ivoire, the First Lady, the Foreign Minister, the Minister of Health, Imam Cissé Djiguiba and the United Nations Country Team. 

Côte d’Ivoire’s engagement in the future of global health, and in particular in ending the AIDS epidemic, is a strong demonstration of the progressive leadership of the country.

Côte d’Ivoire has been working closely with UNAIDS for many years to scale up its domestic response to HIV, stop new HIV infections and ensure access to treatment. Now, Côte d’Ivoire is expanding its reach and efforts to improve the lives of people living with and affected by HIV, not just in its own country but across the globe.

Côte d’Ivoire has recently announced a US$ 1 million donation to UNAIDS to support UNAIDS’ efforts to Fast-Track the response to HIV and end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030. The announcement was made at the Fifth Replenishment Conference of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund), where Côte d'Ivoire was among nine African countries that made pledges to the Global Fund, a greater number than ever before and an encouraging sign that countries across Africa are becoming more engaged in improving global health outcomes.

The President and First lady of Côte d'Ivoire, were in New York, United States of America this week for the 71 United Nations General Assembly. The First Lady, Dominique Ouattara, met with the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, to discuss future projects and ways of advancing her personal efforts in stopping new HIV infections among children.

Putting children and families first has been a long-term commitment of Ms Ouattara. Through her multiple platforms, she has championed the rights of children for access to health and education for a number of years. In 2014, UNAIDS appointed Ms Ouattara as a Special Ambassador for the Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission and the Promotion of Paediatric Treatment for HIV. The next phase of UNAIDS’ work with Ms Ouattara will be on further integration of HIV and health programmes, particularly those concerning young people. 

African ministers of health called on the international community to make ending the paediatric AIDS epidemic a global political priority. Meeting in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on 10 May, dignitaries called for the Political Declaration on Ending AIDS, to be agreed upon at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS, to include targets to scale up prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV services and paediatric HIV testing and treatment.

Participants included 11 national ministers, as well as deputy ministers and senior HIV programme officials from across Africa, which is home to nearly 90% of all children living with HIV.

In 2014, 2.6 million children were living with HIV and 32% had access to antiretroviral therapy. Without treatment, half of all children living with HIV will die before they are two years old.

“Ending paediatric AIDS requires action at two levels,” said the First Lady of Côte d’Ivoire, Dominique Ouattara, UNAIDS Special Ambassador for the Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission and the Promotion of Paediatric Treatment for HIV. “On the one hand, we must prevent new HIV infections among children, and, on the other hand, we must provide treatment and care to all children who are living with HIV.”

Continued progress in preventing new HIV infections among children has been made by ensuring all pregnant women are tested for HIV and women living with HIV receive treatment. This has established a strong foundation for ending paediatric AIDS. But to make it a thing of the past, substantially better results are needed across the HIV treatment cascade for children.

UNAIDS projects that it is possible to end the epidemic of paediatric AIDS by 2020 if prevention and treatment targets are met by 2018. These include reaching 95% treatment coverage for both pregnant women and children living with HIV.

Recent trends point towards the feasibility of achieving these targets. Major gains have been made in providing antiretroviral medicines to pregnant women living with HIV to prevent transmission of HIV to their babies. From 2010 to 2014, new HIV infections among children dropped by 58%. In the same period, HIV treatment coverage among children living with HIV more than doubled.

However, more needs to be done to ensure that no child is left behind. “Today we have effective treatment regimens, yet how many children are still dying in the age of antiretroviral therapy?,” asked Jeanne Gapiya Niyonzima, president of the Burundi Association Nationale de Soutien aux Séropositifs et aux Malades du SIDA and mother of a child who died of AIDS-related causes at 18 months of age.

“This is a question of social justice, a question of equality,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. “We have the opportunity to have a Political Declaration on Ending AIDS from the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS to help us set concrete objectives so that treatment becomes universal for everyone, wherever they find themselves.”

The African ministers attending the Abidjan meeting called for the Political Declaration on Ending AIDS to include clear targets to scale up prevention and treatment services in order to end paediatric AIDS. To achieve these targets, the ministers endorsed the immediate front-loading of resources for paediatric HIV treatment and the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

Scientific developments have the potential to dramatically improve treatment outcomes for children. Ministers noted the importance of fully leveraging and scaling up innovative tools, including point-of-care technologies for early infant diagnosis, paediatric treatment regimens recommended by the World Health Organization and family-centred service delivery approaches that improve retention in care and treatment adherence.

Ministers called for UNAIDS to coordinate initiatives on paediatric HIV treatment across all sectors. “We need to strengthen cooperation among stakeholders to get better results for children,” said Juliet Kavetuna, Deputy Minister of Health and Social Services of Namibia. “If we work in silos, we will never achieve our goal.”

The meeting generated considerable optimism regarding the potential to meet the 2018 targets for children. “We know what we have to do,” said David Parirenyatwa, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Health and Child Care. “The key is to do it in a systematic way and ensure that it is well-funded.”

Uganda’s Minister of State for Primary Health Care, Sarah Opendi, said, “Working together, we can end the AIDS epidemic among children, and also among adults.”

Prior to the closing remarks by the First Lady of Côte d’Ivoire, Mr Sidibé was presented with the Grand Officier de l'Ordre National de la République de Côte d'Ivoire, in recognition of his global leadership on behalf of children affected by HIV. In accepting the award, Mr Sidibé encouraged all participants to work towards the goal of ending paediatric AIDS.

Leading donors, programme implementers and civil society involved in paediatric HIV treatment, as well as private industry, also attended the ministerial meeting. The event was convened by UNAIDS, the Government of Côte d’Ivoire, ELMA Philanthropies, Funders Concerned About AIDS, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Johnson & Johnson and Luxembourg. More than 150 people from 34 countries participated.

The Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, welcomed the First Lady of Côte d’Ivoire, Dominique Ouattara, to UNAIDS headquarters on 25 April. During their meeting, they reviewed the substantial progress made in stopping new HIV infections among children in Côte d’Ivoire. More than 80% of pregnant women living with HIV in Côte d’Ivoire have access to antiretroviral therapy, up from 48% in 2009, and new infections among children have dropped by 26% since 2009.

In December 2014, Mr Sidibé presented Ms Ouattara with the title of UNAIDS Special Ambassador for the Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission and the Promotion of Paediatric Treatment for HIV for her humanitarian work and her commitment to improving access to paediatric treatment for children living with HIV. 

During her visit to UNAIDS, Mr Sidibé commended the First Lady’s work in raising awareness around HIV in western and central Africa. He also outlined the importance of focusing on women, children and adolescents in cities, particularly in Abidjan, the capital of Côte d’Ivoire, where more than one third of all people living with HIV in the country live.

Ms Ouattara, a long-time humanitarian activist, conveyed her thanks to UNAIDS and reiterated her commitment to focus on early paediatric diagnosis, treatment and education and on achieving zero discrimination. 

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