African Heads of State committed to sustain efforts to ending AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria by adopting the recommendations stated in an AIDS Watch Africa report—including prioritizing AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in the new development goals in order to ensure that the continued international financing of the response will not be threatened—during the twenty-third African Union Summit, held from 20 to 27 June in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.

The report by AIDS Watch Africa, an Africa-led instrument to stimulate leaders into action and mobilize the resources needed to address AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in an effective, sustainable and accountable manner, stresses the need for continued international support in the spirit of shared responsibility and global solidarity. However, it also stresses the importance of developing solutions towards innovative domestic financing for health, and urges countries to continue prioritizing rights-based responses.

During his visit to Equatorial Guinea, Michel Sidibé met with Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of Equatorial Guinea, where he pledged to provide UNAIDS technical assistance in order to help achieve a more effective and coordinated response to HIV. Mr Sidibé also met with Uganda President Yoweri Museveni, who announced that he will send back to Parliament for revision the controversial HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Bill 2010 introduced on 19 May.

While in Malabo, Mr Sidibé also participated in the extraordinary General Assembly of the Organisation of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA). At the General Assembly, the First Ladies launched their activity report, which includes plans to minimize the number of women infected and affected by HIV in their countries, the role of traditional healers in achieving universal access to HIV treatment and the provision of free antinatal and postnatal check-ups for women.

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UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé commended Tunisia for its leadership role in the AIDS response in the Middle East and North Africa region during his meeting with President Moncef Marzouki on 20 June in Tunis, Tunisia. Mr Sidibé also congratulated the country for its selection to host the 18th International Conference on HIV/AIDS and STI’s in Africa (ICASA) in 2015.

President Marzouki placed Tunisia among the pioneer countries to ratify the Arab Convention on HIV Prevention and Protection of the Rights of People Living with HIV—adopted in March 2012 by the Arab Parliament—and promised to push for AIDS to remain on the post-2015 development agenda. At the end of the meeting, President Marzouki signed the Protect the Goal ball, pledging his commitment to raise global awareness of HIV.

During his three-day visit to the country, Mr Sidibe also met with representatives of civil society and affected communities, the Vice-President of the National Constituent Assembly, Mehersia Labadi, the Minister of Health, Mohamed Salah Ben Ammar, the Minister of Finance, Hakim Ben Hamouda, and Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank.

In discussions with community leaders, Mr Sidibé stressed the important role of civil society in advocating for a rights-based approach in the AIDS response and the need for governments to engage them more in the political dialogue. He also emphasized the urgent need for legislative reform and a public health approach towards people who use drugs, to avoid criminalization and ensure access to HIV services.

Mr Sidibé also reiterated the importance of domestic funding to ensure a sustainable response to the epidemic, while stressing the need to establish a concrete investment plan that focuses resources where they are most needed.

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UN leaders and the African Union agreed at a meeting held in Abuja, Nigeria, on 30 March to join together to respond to the challenges that the pharmaceutical industry in Africa is facing in strengthening the local production of essential medicines and moving the continent towards sustainability of treatment programmes for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the Seventh Joint African Union Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance and the UNECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

Africa is highly dependent on foreign medicines, with 70% of them being imported; local production of quality medicines is therefore imperative to guaranteeing life-saving treatment in Africa. Local production will result in many benefits, including better quality assurance, shorter supply chains and fewer stock-outs.

Since one of the major challenges for the pharmaceutical industry in Africa is the establishment of an African regulatory agency, the participants agreed that their next meeting will focus on that issue.

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The Council of Arab Ministers of Health endorsed on 13 March the Arab AIDS Strategy (2014-2020) during its 41st Ordinary Session held at the League of Arab States. The new Strategy is intended to guide the development of a coordinated and consensus-driven regional response to HIV.

In his opening remarks, Nabil El Araby, Secretary General of the League of Arab States, noted the importance of the landmark achievement. “I congratulate the efforts made to finalize the Arab AIDS Strategy which began with a Saudi initiative and was concluded with the support of UNAIDS, international organizations and concerned civil society organizations,” he said.

The new strategy comprises 10 goals which are aligned to the targets set in the 2011 United Nations General Assembly Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS while maintaining a broader vision for an AIDS-free generation beyond 2015. The 10 goals of the strategy include: To reduce HIV incidence among key populations at higher risk of infection by more than 50%; to eliminate new HIV infections among children; to increase HIV treatment coverage to 80%; to address stigma and discrimination; to improve AIDS financing; to address the special vulnerability of women and girls; and to review the policies around travel restrictions.

In a resolution of endorsement, the Ministers of Health requested that the League of Arab States and UNAIDS work closely to support and monitor the implementation of the strategy at country level. The League will provide seed funding to kick-start the implementation of the strategy through the organization of three high-level forums to discuss issues related to women leadership, media and religious leaders.

“Health is one of the basic and principle rights for each individual without discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, religion or political, economic or social affiliation,” said Adel Adawy, Egyptian Minister of Health and Population. “Raising the level of public health for the whole society is principle to achieving peace and security.”

UNAIDS worked closely with the League of Arab States, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other member states to provide political and technical support to develop the strategy. A series of consultations, workshops and technical validation meetings were organized as well as high-level advocacy conducted at regional and global level for the endorsement of the strategy by the Council of Arab Ministers of Health.

“The endorsement of the Arab AIDS Strategy demonstrates a longstanding commitment and leadership to the AIDS response in Arab countries,” said Yamina Chakkar, UNAIDS Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, on behalf of UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. “We thank the Council for making the Arab AIDS Strategy possible and for being an important ally in helping to shape how we will work towards ending the AIDS epidemic in the post-2015 era,” she added.

The rise in new HIV infections makes the Arab region home to one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in the world. Between 2001 and 2012, the estimated number of people living with HIV in the League of Arab States member countries increased from 140 000 to 210 000. Since 2001, the number of people newly infected with HIV in the Arab countries has increased by more than 44%—from 18 000 to 26 000—and between 2001 and 2012 there was a 69% increase in AIDS-related deaths in this region.