The Council of Arab Ministers of Health has unanimously endorsed a resolution that urges countries to accelerate their efforts for the implementation of the Arab AIDS Strategy and to Fast-Track national responses to end AIDS by 2030.

Speaking at the council meeting, held in Cairo, Egypt, on 3 March, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé commended the leadership the council and ministers have demonstrated in the AIDS response. He noted that the Arab AIDS Strategy (2014–2020) presents a unified position, is informed by evidence and considers regional specificities. He said that, in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals, there is an urgent need to reduce health inequities between countries by embracing global health security principles derived from values of social justice and inclusive societies for all.

Mr Sidibé also expressed hope that Oman, the United Arab Emirates and other Arab countries would soon be certified as having eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV. He urged countries that are on the verge of achieving this goal to finalize the validation process and become pioneers in the region.

The Deputy Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Benhelli, met with Mr Sidibé and pledged to mobilize support for the upcoming United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS, to be held in June in New York, United States of America. In bilateral meetings with the Ministers of Health of Bahrain, Djibouti and Libya, Mr Sidibé highlighted the importance of high-level participation by Arab countries and their effective contribution to a strong political declaration.

The significant and catalytic leadership role Egypt has in the region was raised by Mr Sidibé in a meeting with the Egyptian Prime Minister, the Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Health and the Minister of Social Solidarity. He emphasized that Egypt is forging strong partnerships in Africa, especially in the local production of medicines, which is essential to ensure and sustain universal health coverage in the Middle East and Africa.

During his visit to Egypt, Mr Sidibé was introduced to Yousra, a renowned actress and singer who was recently appointed as a UNAIDS Regional Goodwill Ambassador for the Middle East and North Africa. Through her advocacy, Yousra has shown the impact regional champions and celebrities can have in building bridges and reaching out to leaders to end AIDS in the region by 2030.

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Egyptian actress and singer Yousra was appointed as a UNAIDS Regional Goodwill Ambassador for the Middle East and North Africa at an event held in Cairo, Egypt, on 31 January that brought together a wide range of key partners.

The Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, ministers, former ministers, ambassadors, policy-makers, people living with HIV, representatives of the private sector, civil society, United Nations agencies and academia, celebrities and the media came together for the event.

UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Jan Beagle announced the regional goodwill ambassador appointment, underlining that Yousra, with her iconic status, will be a critical voice for UNAIDS and the AIDS response in the region, particularly in the lead-up to the High-Level Meeting on AIDS, to take place in June 2016 in New York, United States of America.

Ms Beagle stressed that Yousra will be a champion for the implementation and financing of the Arab AIDS Strategy. Her engagement will contribute significantly to ensuring a Fast-Track response to HIV in the region, towards the goal of ending AIDS by 2030.

Speaking at the event, Yousra emphasized her commitment to uniting people across sectors and to being a champion to advance the AIDS response in the region. She underlined the importance of eliminating stigma and discrimination against people living with and affected by HIV and of empowering women.  

In 2014, an estimated 240 000 people were living with HIV in the Middle East and North Africa region, which faces growing inequalities, rising migration, escalating humanitarian emergencies and discriminatory laws. To end the AIDS epidemic in the region, there is a strong need to address the determinants of these vulnerabilities and deliver holistic services free from stigma and discrimination to people living with and at risk of HIV. 

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The Middle East and North Africa region is facing political and humanitarian crises that have destabilized the region and have had an impact on social and economic development in the most affected countries. However, despite setbacks in certain areas, health continues to be a priority. Algeria stands out as one of the countries in the region with the most advanced health responses, particularly to the AIDS epidemic.

During a visit to Algeria from 12 to 14 January, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé commended governments in the region for recently adopting the Algiers Declaration, an important tool for ending the AIDS epidemic in the Middle East and North Africa. One of the key components of the declaration calls for scaling up HIV testing and treatment services in the Middle East and North Africa, especially among vulnerable populations, mainly injecting drug users, men who have sex with men and sex workers. Currently, testing and treatment coverage are low in the region.

Speaking at the Institute of Diplomacy and International Relations, Mr Sidibé said, “If in the next five years 90% of people living with HIV know their status, the region will certainly manage to enable 90% of people who know their HIV-positive status to access life-saving treatment by 2020.” In his keynote speech, Mr Sidibé also recognized Algeria’s role in accelerating the AIDS response in the country and championing the Algiers Declaration in the region.

Algeria has recently introduced HIV testing at all health-care facilities and has adopted a law criminalizing all forms of violence against women. In addition, the country has significantly increased antiretroviral therapy coverage, mostly relying on domestic funds.

During his mission, Mr Sidibé visited the Institut Pasteur in Algeria and the National Laboratory for the Control of Pharmaceutical Products, part of the Algiers Centre of Excellence for Research on Health and HIV/AIDS.

“The Institut Pasteur is a centre with a continental potential for research, diagnostics, training and medicine production,” said Mr Sidibé. He added that it is time for Africa to produce its medicines and develop its technological and scientific infrastructure.

During the visit, Mr Sidibé met with the Minister of Health, Abdelmalek Boudiaf, and spoke about the strong and productive partnership between the Government of Algeria and UNAIDS. Mr Sidibé congratulated Algeria for its people-centred approach to health and its commitment to ending the AIDS epidemic. “Universal access to health care is in the Algerian constitution,” Mr Boudiaf said.

Governments, health experts and civil society activists have renewed their commitment to accelerate HIV testing and treatment programmes across the Middle East and North Africa as part of efforts to achieve the UNAIDS Fast-Track targets by 2020.

At a meeting hosted by the Government of Algeria and co-organized by UNAIDS and the World Health Organization (WHO), people living with HIV, national AIDS programme managers, representatives of civil society networks and the United Nations, technical partners and the media came together to assemble and reinforce the political leadership, technical capacities and resources to enable the rapid scale-up of HIV testing and treatment services.

The participants expressed their concern at the current low testing and treatment coverage in the Middle East and North Africa region. They stressed the need to mobilize additional resources and underlined that spending on the epidemic should be regarded as investment rather than expenditure. Discussions also highlighted the need to optimize rapid diagnostic technologies and to transition towards a test and treat model in line with the WHO’s new guidelines.  

The meeting in Algiers ended with a regional declaration led by Algeria’s Minister of Health to guarantee a sustained commitment to the Fast-Track strategy ahead of the United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS taking place in June 2016.

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The Parliament of Djibouti has adopted a new plan to Fast-Track the end of the AIDS epidemic and increase protection for people living with HIV and key populations.  

The new strategy was formulated during a workshop attended by deputies as part of Djibouti’s national week of action against HIV. Opened by the Minister of Health and the Speaker of the National Assembly, the event brought parliamentarians together with people living with HIV and representatives of civil society organizations, the national AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria council and the United Nations. The workshop was an opportunity for parliamentarians to hear directly from people living with HIV about the social and legal challenges they face, including stigma and discrimination.  

The participants welcomed recent progress in the response to HIV in Djibouti, especially the decrease in HIV prevalence from 3% in 2000 to 1.6% at the end of 2014 and legislation introduced to strengthen the protection of people living with HIV and other vulnerable groups. The workshop also reviewed critical challenges to the HIV response, including the limited uptake of services to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and pervasive stigma, discrimination and other human rights violations towards people living with HIV and key populations.

In drawing up the new plan, parliamentarians said better coordination across government was required to implement the non-discrimination provisions of existing legislation. They also called for a public meeting at parliament with the National Network of People Living with HIV to raise awareness about stigma and discrimination. 

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During his visit to Djibouti, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé met President Ismail Omar Guelleh to discuss the country’s ongoing response to the AIDS epidemic.

During his three-day visit, Mr Sidibé took part in an event held to mark the acceleration of a campaign to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. He also participated in a round-table discussion to explore ways of securing sustainable financing for the country’s AIDS response.

There were around 9900 people living with HIV in Djibouti at the end of 2014 and HIV prevalence among adults aged 15–49 years old was 1.6%. Fewer than one in five has access to antiretroviral medicines.

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The First Lady of Djibouti, Kadra Mahamoud Haid, and the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, have taken part in an event to announce a further acceleration of the country’s campaign to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

At the event, the Djibouti Minister of Health, Kassim Issak Osman, said that projects to prevent mother-to child-transmission of HIV had shown clear benefits and would be expanded to allow more pregnant women and new mothers to access them.           

At the end of 2014, about one in five pregnant women living with HIV in Djibouti were accessing antiretroviral medicines to keep them healthy and prevent them from transmitting the virus to their children.

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During a visit to Djibouti, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé has met a group of volunteers involved in an innovative public-private partnership between the Ministry of Health, the BE Health Association and the Kempinski Hotel Group.

Since September 2014, BE Health has trained 24 employees of the Djibouti Palace Kempinski Hotel to become peer health educators. Since June 2015, these volunteers have reached out to more than 300 people a month in six community health centres across Djibouti-Ville. They have also identified 15 tuberculosis patients who had interrupted their treatment and guided them back on to medication.

BE Health, an independent Swiss non-profit health association that aims to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, is expanding its collaboration with the health authorities in Djibouti to foster and facilitate screening campaigns for tuberculosis and HIV.     

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Countries affected by humanitarian crises in the Middle East and North Africa are facing enormous challenges to respond effectively to the AIDS epidemic. Interruption of HIV services, limited prioritization of HIV in humanitarian responses and limited capacity of national programmes are just some of the challenges faced by countries.

UNAIDS, in collaboration with the Regional/Arab Network against AIDS (RANAA) and the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States, organized a two-day consultation in Cairo, Egypt, on 30 September and 1 October 2015 to discuss ways to strengthen national capacities for a resilient HIV response and to reach the goals of the Arab AIDS Strategy (2014–2020), which were endorsed by the Council of Arab Ministers of Health in March 2014.

Participants outlined linkages, entry points and priority actions for HIV integration in humanitarian response as well as the technical support needs for countries in emergency situations. The protection of people affected by humanitarian emergencies, including refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced people, was identified as a key priority in the Middle East and North Africa.

Speaking at the consultation, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Luiz Loures emphasized that fostering partnerships with clear roles and responsibilities is key to addressing the needs of countries. He also noted that while conflict is a global reality, it is particularly affecting the Middle East and North Africa. He stressed the need to reach out to the people most vulnerable and excluded, to devise mechanisms to ensure that no one is left behind and to take into consideration sexual violence in conflicts.

The consultation is the first to contribute to the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board’s technical dialogue on HIV in emergency contexts.

In a meeting with civil society and key populations from conflict affected countries of the region, Mr Loures urged them to focus, look for data and be innovative in the response and never compromise on their critical role in putting people first.

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