Calls for renewed efforts to reduce the transmission of HIV and hepatitis C among people who inject drugs were heard at the thematic segment of the 35th meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB), which took place in Geneva, Switzerland, on 11 December.

Speakers at the thematic segment included former President of Switzerland Ruth Dreifuss, a member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, Efi Kokkini, the chair of the Greek Drug and Substitute Users Union, and representatives of United Nations Member States and organizations such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the World Health Organization and the World Bank.

Key issues associated with HIV and injecting drug use were raised, including opportunities for and barriers to implementing harm reduction strategies. Examples from several countries focused on partnerships between governments and civil society that have proved successful in reducing the transmission of HIV among people who inject drugs.

“We need to examine what has failed and what can be done differently,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. “Reaching the 90–90–90 targets will not be possible without reducing new HIV infections among people who inject drugs.”

Mr Sidibé said he had witnessed many effective harm reduction programmes throughout the world, stressing that those that enable people who inject drugs to be part of the solution have the greatest impact. He noted that the 2016 Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on the World Drug Problem was widely seen as critical and offers a key opportunity to redirect and reform global and national policies to reduce the adverse impact of drugs on public health.

In her contribution to the debate, Ms Dreifuss said international drug policy had failed over several decades. She said there needed to be a radical rethink of policies and the construction of practical solutions that respect human rights and empower the people most affected.

Participants at the PCB heard an impassioned contribution from Ms Kokkini, who said people who inject drugs are often excluded from HIV prevention and treatment services. She said that politicians even continued to deny that people inject drugs while in prison.

Detention environments are particularly significant for the issue of HIV and drugs use. In some countries, HIV prevalence among prisoners can be 50 times higher than among the general population, with injecting drug use an ongoing problem in detention settings. During the discussion, PCB participants heard that where implemented, community-based opioid substitution therapies were six times more effective and 12 times less expensive than detention-based programmes.

Major Gairat Rakhmanov, a senior police official from Kyrgyzstan involved in community-based therapies for released prisoners, said the participation of the police and prison services was essential in helping to keeping people who inject drugs alive. Speakers from New York State Health Department and from the peer-led Needle and Syringe Programme described how New York had halted and reversed the HIV epidemic in the decade between 1992 and 2002.

Other participants from Iran, Malaysia and Tanzania described partnerships with various authorities, but each expressed the need to engage with people who inject drugs at every stage of the planning, design and delivery of services for them.

It is currently estimated that worldwide some 12.7 million people inject drugs, around 1.7 million of whom are thought to be living with HIV.

GENEVA, 12 December 2014—The 35th meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board reaffirmed its commitment to ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 and encouraged United Nations Member States to push for this goal to be fully reflected in the final agreement on the post-2015 development agenda.

During the meeting, UNAIDS Board members recognized the value of the Joint Programme’s experience in relation to multisectoral collaboration, issue-specific partnership and the inclusive governance model, in particular the participation of civil society. Board members agreed that this UNAIDS model was relevant for the United Nations system’s response to a post-2015 development agenda that leaves no one behind.

Urging action towards the goal of ending the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030, the Board noted compelling evidence to Fast-Track the AIDS response over the next five years. To accelerate action and investment, the Board requested UNAIDS to update and extend its strategy through 2016–2021.

Board members called on states to take steps to implement the 90–90–90 treatment strategy, to set ambitious targets for HIV prevention and to reduce stigma and discrimination among people seeking HIV services. The Board highlighted the particular need to improve treatment options for children living with HIV, which are currently significantly lacking.

The UNAIDS Board emphasized the need to support low- and middle-income countries to scale up access to essential HIV treatment. They also urged UNAIDS to support low- and middle-income countries to leverage existing flexibilities in international trade agreements to improve access to treatment and to review current national patent laws.

Presenting his report to the Board, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, underlined the importance of accelerating the AIDS response. “We are at a pivotal moment. We need to mobilize political commitment, identify approaches that accelerate action and focus global efforts and resources on doing the right thing.”

The meeting concluded with a full-day thematic segment on halving HIV transmission among people who inject drugs. Participants underlined the critical need for renewed efforts to reduce transmission of HIV and hepatitis C among people who inject drugs, towards the 2030 goal of ending the AIDS epidemic.

Participants and observers from United Nations Member States, international organizations, civil society and nongovernmental organizations attended the meeting, which was chaired by Australia, with Zimbabwe as Vice-Chair and El Salvador as Rapporteur. The Board elected Zimbabwe as Chair, with Switzerland as Vice-Chair and Ukraine as Rapporteur for 2015.

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.

The 35th meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board is taking place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 9 to 11 December.

During the opening session, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé addressed the Board giving an update of the progress made in the AIDS response as well as outlining the challenges ahead in achieving the Joint Programme’s Fast-Track 90-90-90 treatment targets by 2020.

Mr Sidibé said the response to HIV over the next five years would determine what happened over the next 15 years. “We face a historic opportunity to turn our dream of the end of the AIDS epidemic into reality if we act now,” he said.

The thematic segment of the meeting will take place on Thursday and will focus on people who inject drugs. Participants will examine policy and programmatic actions to halve HIV transmission among people who inject drugs.

The 35th meeting of the UNAIDS Board is being chaired by Australia, with Zimbabwe acting as Vice-Chair and El Salvador as rapporteur.

Luxembourg has announced that it will champion the 90–90–90 treatment target and has pledged an additional €500 000 for its implementation in addition to its current multi-year funding agreement.

A collaboration between Luxembourg and UNAIDS will entail the organization of high-level thematic consultations in 2015 to generate political, technical and strategic recommendations to help countries achieve the new treatment target. Luxembourg will further use its championship to promote the 90–90–90 target at the highest political level, including within the European Union.

The announcement was made at the 35th meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board, taking place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 9 to 11 December 2014. The collaboration will officially be launched at the beginning of 2015.

Under the 90–90–90 treatment target, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status, 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy and 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression by 2020. Modelling suggests that achieving this ambitious target will enable the world to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030, which in turn will generate profound health and economic benefits.

Being one of the few donor countries in the world to maintain its official development assistance at 1% of its gross national income, Luxembourg serves as an example in international development cooperation. The country is also one of UNAIDS’ top donors and has always provided strong support in addressing the needs and rights of vulnerable groups and the promotion and protection of human rights. 

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