GENEVA, 23 March 2018—Ahead of World TB Day 2018, UNAIDS is calling on all partners to take unprecedented and bold action to advance efforts to end tuberculosis (TB) and AIDS by 2030.

TB continues to be the top infectious killer worldwide, claiming more than 4500 lives a day. TB is also the leading cause of death among people living with HIV, causing one in three AIDS-related deaths. In 2016, 1.7 million people died from TB, including around 374 000 people living with HIV.

“The world has the resources to end the interlinked epidemics of tuberculosis and HIV, but political commitment and country action are lacking,” said Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director. “Political, religious and civil society leaders need to step up to guarantee everyone the right to breathe, to live free from tuberculosis and AIDS.”

TB is preventable and curable; however, persistent challenges remain. Many of these challenges are also faced by the HIV response and can be effectively addressed if programmes are integrated. They include unequal access to services, with the most marginalized people still out of reach, the need to access education, housing and basic services to prevent, diagnose and treat TB and HIV through local health-care services and community health-care workers, the need to strengthen health systems and the urgent need to mobilize resources in programming, research and development.

To address the challenges and push forward the response to TB and HIV, UNAIDS has outlined five important actions for partners:

• Give a new impetus to the response to TB and HIV by impelling political, religious and civil society leaders to champion the universal right to live free from TB and HIV, building on existing rights and health and social movements.
• Empower communities to demand their right to health. Affected communities must call on governments to improve living standards, including by accessing nutritious food, breathing clean air, completing their education and fostering an enabling economic environment, all of which will help to reduce the burden of TB and HIV.
• Ensure rights-promoting and non-discriminatory service delivery for all, especially for people at higher risk of TB and HIV, such as children and marginalized populations, to protect them against catastrophic health expenditures in the context of universal health coverage. Thus, duty of care extends beyond health to include safe workplaces and places of detention.
• Engage ministers of finance to approach health as an investment, not an expenditure. While the above actions carry some financial outlays, assessments of returns on investment in health have demonstrated their long-term value to societies and economies. An efficient and effective response to HIV and TB will require working across all ministries and sectors to mobilize sufficient domestic financing to strengthen health systems.
• Innovate for new medicines and vaccines. Greater partnerships between the public and private sectors are urgently needed to accelerate innovation that leads to the discovery, development and rapid uptake of new tools to prevent and treat TB and HIV, as are strategies for shorter and less-toxic TB regimens.

Ending the global TB and HIV epidemics is possible. HIV is preventable and effective and affordable treatment is available. TB is preventable, treatable and in most cases curable.

Progress has been made—deaths from TB among people living with HIV declined by 37% between 2005 and 2016 as prevention, testing and treatment have improved and increased. However, there is still much more work to be done.

In September 2018, world leaders will come together at the United Nations in New York, United States of America, for the first-ever United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Tuberculosis. This meeting will be an important opportunity for countries to adopt a progressive, visionary and actionable political declaration on TB.

“The United Nations High-Level Meeting on Tuberculosis could provide the political, social and financial momentum needed to end TB,” said Mr Sidibé. “This year could be the most important since Robert Koch discovered the cause of TB136 years ago, but only if we all show leadership.” 

UNAIDS urges all partners to ensure that TB is elevated on global, regional, national and subnational political and social agendas, that TB and HIV are addressed in unison and that partners combine robust efforts to end TB and HIV by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals.

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 International Women’s Day, which is celebrated on 8 March every year, Yosweri Museveni, President of Uganda, affirmed his commitment to empower women in the work place and in the domestic sphere. At an International Women’s Day celebration in Mityana District, in the Central Region of Uganda, President Museveni outlined the action taken by government to promote women in the civil service, including the army, police and in Parliament. Government is also currently developing legislation to promote the rights of women in the home.

During the event the President, in the presence of UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé, launched the Presidential Fast-Track Situation Room, a data visualisation platform which draws from multiple sources to provide real-time data for monitoring the implementation of the Presidential Fast-Track Initiative to End AIDS in Uganda by 2030. The initiative is a multi-sectoral effort to consolidate progress on key areas of HIV prevention revitalize HIV prevention, testing and treatment.

In a special ceremony, the President awarded Mr Sidibé the Most Excellent Order of the Pearl of Africa, the highest civilian award of the Ugandan Honours System, in recognition of Mr Sidibé’s contribution to the global AIDS response and his continued support to the Government of Uganda and its partners.

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During the Global Partnership for Education meeting on 2 February, hosted by Senegal and France, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé discussed the importance of education and health. “Integrating education and health is key for our success in controlling the epidemic among young people. Without effective, quality and sustainable health and education systems we are failing young people”, Mr Sidibé said. Credit: UNAIDS/B. Deméocq.

The First Lady of Senegal, Marieme Faye Sall, and the First Lady of France, Brigitte Macron, inaugurate a cardio-paediatric centre that provides surgical treatment for children affected by cardiologic diseases. The centre, funded by the Cuomo Foundation in Monaco, supports women and children in Senegal. Credit: UNAIDS.

Preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV is crucial, as is community involvement, stressed Mr Sidibé during his meeting with Ms Sall. The western and central Africa region lags behind in access to treatment and prevention, which is why UNAIDS and partners launched a western and central Africa catch-up plan. Credit: UNAIDS/B. Deméocq.

Mr Sidibé also met with the Minister of Health and Social Action of Senegal, Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr, stressing that no matter who you are or where you are from, everyone has the right to health, the right to an education, the right to equal opportunities and the right to thrive. Credit: UNAIDS/B. Deméocq.

The Secretary General of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, Michaëlle Jean, will raise the issue of counterfeit medicines at the upcoming World Health Assembly in May. Credit: UNAIDS/B. Deméocq.

Minister of International Development of Norway, Nikolai Astrup, and Mr Sidibé met on the sidelines of the meeting. Credit: UNAIDS/B. Deméocq.

Mr Sidibé, along with the Ambassador of Luxembourg, Nicole Bintner. Luxembourg has been an active participant and donor in the western and central Africa catch-up plan. Credit: UNAIDS/B. Deméocq.

Good health enables a girl to thrive, to grow, to think, to explore and to contribute to her community. Knowledge of how to stay healthy and access to quality health services enable her to prevent illness, to eat well, to manage her sexual health, to have healthy babies when and if she chooses to and to nurture her own well-being. Education and health are two of the most transformative elements of a girl’s life. Credit: UNAIDS/B. Deméocq.

8 March 2018

Michel Sidibé

Executive Director of UNAIDS

Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations

On International Women’s Day, the world is celebrating the power of women’s organizations and activists to advance women’s right to health, gender quality and women’s empowerment. Women’s empowerment and leadership is critical to ensuring success across all 17 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Women and girls continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV. Globally, young women are twice as likely to become infected with HIV as their male counterparts. In sub-Saharan Africa, three out of four new HIV infections among 15–19-year-olds are among young women. Globally, nearly 30% of women experience physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner at least once in their lifetime.

But change is happening. This year, International Women’s Day is being celebrated at a time when there is a much-needed spotlight on issues of sexual harassment across multiple sectors, including the private sector, governments, international organizations and civil society. Movements such as #MeToo are challenging the behaviours and beliefs that perpetuate gender inequality, gender-based violence and sexual harassment. UNAIDS reaffirms its commitment to zero tolerance for sexual harassment. UNAIDS holds itself accountable to the same standards of ethics, equity and respect that it promotes and demands of others.

More and more voices are joining to challenge the sociocultural, economic and political inequalities that make women and girls more vulnerable to HIV. These changes are good for women and girls. We know that through enabling women and girls to fulfil their rights to health, to education and to self-determination, transformation becomes possible. HIV infections decline. Health improves. Education increases. Women and girls thrive.

These changes are good for communities, for families and for men and boys. Women and girls who are able to fulfil their rights are better able to work, to participate in civil society and government, to keep their families healthy and happy and to enjoy equitable gender relations.

It is clear that we can end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. But achieving that goal depends on advancing a social justice agenda that demands access to health services, education, employment, justice and political representation, free from discrimination and violence. The AIDS response and the people who drive it must be empowered and enabled to do so, in safe and equitable environments.

Change is happening, and the change is good.

GENEVA, 27 February 2018—UNAIDS has received its first presidential visit. The President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, visited UNAIDS headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on 27 February 2018 to discuss the response to HIV, tuberculosis and malaria with Geneva-based global health leaders.

The President met the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, and thanked him for UNAIDS’ continued support to Mozambique in its efforts to reduce new HIV infections, expand access to antiretroviral therapy and break down the stigma and discrimination surrounding HIV.

“UNAIDS is so important to the lives of people, because in Mozambique there is nothing more important than life itself,” said Mr Nyusi. “Everything we do can only be done if we are healthy. So as leaders we need to ensure our people’s well-being.”

Mr Sidibé highlighted that since 2000, Mozambique has quadrupled the number of people on antiretroviral therapy, reduced the number of new HIV infections among children by 63% and ensured that 80% of pregnant women living with HIV have access to treatment, which he called “a remarkable achievement”.

“The President of Mozambique is a true example of the new era of leadership in Africa, which is improving health outcomes for people across the continent,” said Mr Sidibé.

The President participated in a round-table discussion on global health and the Sustainable Development Goals, which included the Mr Sidibé, José Condugua Antonio Pacheco, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Joao Leopoldo Da Costa, Deputy Minister of Health of Mozambique,  Ambassador Pedro Comissario, Permanent Representative of Mozambique in Geneva, Seth Berkley, Chief Executive Officer of Gavi The Vaccine Alliance, Kesete Admasu, Chief Executive Officer of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership and Marijke Wijnroks, Interim Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

During the discussions, the President described how he is scaling up efforts in Mozambique and how the health of the people is improving. However, he also outlined the many challenges he faces, including funding to strengthen the health system, reaching remote areas in the north of Mozambique and controlling the spread of disease through Mozambique’s many ports.

The Geneva-based global health leaders recognized the challenges and encouraged him to continue working to improve health outcomes for the people of Mozambique, pledging their full support. They also urged him to continue his work in increasing the number of community health workers in order to alleviate some of the burden on the overstretched health system and reach more people in rural communities.

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.

First ladies across Africa are spearheading a campaign to stop children acquiring HIV, prevent AIDS-related deaths and keep mothers healthy across Africa.

The Free to Shine campaign was launched by the Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) and the African Union on the sidelines of the 30th Ordinary Session of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It was launched during OAFLA’s annual General Assembly, which this year included 20 first ladies from across Africa, joining under the theme of “Transforming Africa through prioritizing children, adolescents and mothers in the fight against HIV”.  

The Free to Shine initiative was inspired by the progress and commitment from across Africa on stopping new HIV infections among children and aims to build on this progress by uniting people and organizations at the local and global levels to advance progress in ensuring access to HIV services to end AIDS among children and keep mothers healthy.

The campaign’s goals include improving maternal and childhood HIV programmes across Africa by building networks and partnerships, advocating for domestic and global resource mobilization, raising awareness around HIV prevention and mobilizing support for childhood AIDS programmes in Africa by working with high-level international and regional bodies and forums.

The Free to Shine campaign, led by OAFLA and the African Union, is supported by UNAIDS, the World Health Organization, Abbott, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations Development Programme and AIDS Accountability International.

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On 27 January, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Commission) launched a groundbreaking report, HIV, the law and human rights in the African human rights system: key challenges and opportunities for rights-based responses.

The report addresses the key human rights challenges in the response to HIV, including inequality and discrimination towards people living with HIV, access to treatment and restrictive intellectual property regimes, conflict and migration, coercive HIV testing and counselling, restrictions on civil society and the criminalization of people living with HIV and key populations.

While noting the progress made in the response to HIV in Africa, the report expresses concerns about the populations left behind—young women and girls, prisoners, sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender people and people who use drugs.

As well as the challenges, the report also highlights good practices from across the continent for responding to them, including law and policy reform, progressive court decisions and programmes to advance human rights protection and access to HIV and health services.

The development of the report is the result of three years of work involving inputs from various stakeholders, including people living with and affected by HIV, civil society and members of key populations.

A launch event held during the 30th Ordinary Session of the African Union was attended by the First Lady of Ethiopia in her capacity as Chairperson of the Organisation of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS and by the Vice-President of Botswana, the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of the African Commission and the Executive Director of UNAIDS.

The participants welcomed the comprehensive report on HIV and human rights and its bold recommendations and committed to support the implementation of the report’s recommendations to advance human rights and social justice in the response to HIV in Africa.

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A special section on HIV and human rights has been published in the Health and Human Rights Journal. Eleven papers—covering issues such as HIV-related stigma and discrimination, gender inequality and the effects of the abuse and criminalization of key populations—offer critical reflections on the AIDS response and call for renewed efforts to confront legal, social and structural barriers in order to realize better health for all.

The papers leverage the experience of the HIV response and give innovative and practical approaches to expanding human rights programmes and access to treatment and for integrating human rights in work on eliminating diseases.

The special section conveys the simple message that there will be no end to AIDS without efforts to build on the rights-based lessons of the past. It also emphasizes that there is a need to find innovative ways to expand protections, promote gender equality, support civil society and community engagement, strengthen accountability and close the inclusion gap.

The special section is accessible at https://www.hhrjournal.org/volume-19-issue-2-december-2017/

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Morocco marks 30 years of its response to HIV in 2018, with much to celebrate. Concerted efforts in the country have resulted in a 42% reduction in new HIV infections since 2010, significantly greater than the decline across the Middle East and North Africa of just 4%. HIV treatment coverage has also increased in the country, from 16% in 2010 to 48% in 2016.

Morocco has also managed to keep HIV prevalence low among the general population (0.1%). However, there are areas of serious concern. Data show that HIV prevalence is high among populations at higher risk of HIV infection, such as female sex workers (1.3%), people who inject drugs (7.9%) and migrants (3%), showing the need to do more to reach key populations with HIV services. Morocco is scaling up efforts to reach key populations through combined prevention programmes, substitution treatment for people who use drugs and increasing HIV testing.

The Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, visited Morocco to show his support to the 30-year response to HIV. During the visit he met with the President of the National Council of Human Rights (CNDH), the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Health, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the United Nations Resident Coordinator and Country Team.

He stressed the importance of the United Nations Country Team’s commitment to United Nations reform and to responding to HIV through the Joint Plan. He noted the importance of having a national strategy on human rights and HIV and congratulated the CNDH as a pioneer in the region. He praised the initiative of the CNDH for carrying out training in human rights and citizenship and highlighted the important role that Morocco can play in efforts to recruit 2 million community health workers in Africa and in encouraging the local production of medicines.

Mr Sidibé congratulated the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on the progress of the AIDS response under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, the government’s partnership with civil society and the increase in domestic funding for HIV.  

Mr Sidibé took part in the opening ceremony of the 12th meeting of the Association for the Fight against AIDS (ALCS) to celebrate the 30-year response. ALCS has been at the forefront of the response to HIV in Morocco, working on prevention for key populations, HIV counselling and testing, psychosocial support, advocacy, resource mobilization and introducing new innovations, including community screening and pre-exposure prophylaxis.

At the end of 2016, there were estimated to be 22 000 people living with HIV in Morocco, fewer than 1000 new HIV infections and fewer than 1000 AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS is working closely with Morocco to expand innovative approaches to HIV prevention and testing for key populations, expand antiretroviral treatment services and their integration into the health system, implement a road map to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and implement a strategy for zero discrimination. UNAIDS also coordinates the United Nations Joint Support Plan and works to ensure the availability of strategic information and mobilize and implement grants from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

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UNAIDS is deeply saddened by the death of the prominent AIDS researcher and activist Mathilde Krim. Ms Krim was a pioneer in AIDS research from the earliest days of the AIDS epidemic and a dedicated defender of human rights and justice.

Ms Krim was a research scientist, dedicated to increasing awareness around HIV. She was one of the Founding Chairmen of the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), an organization dedicated to AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education and the advocacy of sound AIDS-related public policy.

Her activism, dedication and compassion were instrumental in influencing public policy mobilizing funds for AIDS research and protecting the human rights of people living with HIV or affected by HIV.

In 2000, Ms Krim was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in the United States of America. 

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