UNAIDS governance

NAIROBI, 13 December 2024—The 55th meeting of UNAIDS’ Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) has concluded in Nairobi, Kenya, with Board members reaffirming their commitment to end the AIDS pandemic by 2030. Taking place in Africa for the first time in 18 years, the PCB meeting came at a critical moment for the AIDS response as new scientific advances bring the hope of ending the AIDS pandemic closer than ever and as UNAIDS embarks on developing the next Global AIDS Strategy and building political support for new 2030 HIV goals.

In her opening remarks to the Board the Executive Director of UNAIDS Winnie Byanyima said, “Let us make it possible for people living with HIV today to get the best science for HIV prevention and treatment that exists wherever they are in the world. Let us do this as a matter of sustainability to end this disease, as a matter of social justice, as a matter of human rights and as a matter of public health.”

In the session on Leadership in the AIDS Response, civil society and community activists expressed how breakthrough medicines must be shared equitably to reach the people most in need to accelerate progress towards ending AIDS. Countries demonstrated appreciation and solidarity with UNAIDS with some taking the opportunity to announce funding commitments to UNAIDS during the meeting. France announced a new €1.8 million commitment, via Expertise France, its public international cooperation agency, for equitable and sustainable financing for the AIDS response in southeast Asia, while the Netherlands announced a €23 million core funding contribution to UNAIDS for 2025. Denmark also declared a multi-year financial agreement for 2024—2029, with an expected annual contribution of DKK 40 million.

The Board underscored the need for the world to accelerate toward the 2025 targets.  It also agreed to accelerate the Joint Programme’s work on sustainability and received an update on the ongoing work of the High-level panel on a resilient and fit-for-purpose UNAIDS Joint Programme in the context of the sustainability of the HIV response, with Board members confirming their expectation to consider bold and transformational recommendations at the next PCB on reforming the Joint Programme’s operating model.

A thematic segment on addressing inequalities in children and adolescents to end AIDS by 2030 was held on the last day of the PCB. Board members discussed how to close the persistent gaps and challenges in the response to AIDS in children and adolescents and explored strategies, innovations and programme successes to accelerate HIV prevention, treatment, protection, care and support for pregnant women, children and adolescents.

Sitsope Adjovi, a young HIV activist from Togo’s Network of Positive Children, Adolescents and Youth Innovating for Renewal (REAJIR+) said, “Young people are capable of doing what it takes and are ready to be engaged. it's no longer AIDS that's killing children, teenagers and young people. It's inappropriate policies, interventions and programmes that threaten our lives.” 

There were 120 000 new HIV infections among children aged 0—14 in 2023 and 1.4 million children were living with HIV, 86% of whom are in sub-Saharan Africa. Just 57% of children living with HIV were on treatment in 2023 compared with 77% of adults and every 8 minutes a child died of an AIDS-related illness.

“When we know what works, when we know it is possible to end transmission of HIV to children, every new infection is a collective policy failure. A failure that we must address at every level of the HIV response by bridging the gaps between policy and delivery.” said Ms Byanyima.

The UNAIDS PCB brings together civil society, cosponsors and United Nations member states to help chart the co-creation of the future of the response to HIV, including the development of the next Global AIDS Strategy, the vision for 2030 and beyond. 

The 55th meeting of the PCB was chaired by Kenya, with Brazil serving as the Vice-Chair and the Netherlands as Rapporteur. The 56th meeting to be held in June 2025 will be chaired by Brazil, with the Netherlands serving as Vice-Chair and Kenya as Rapporteur.

Read the Report to the Board by the UNAIDS Executive Director.

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.

NEW YORK/GENEVA, 19 September 2024—With support from UNAIDS, two young social media influencers living with HIV are on their way to the United Nations General Assembly and the Summit of the Future in New York to urge world leaders to partner with them in the response to HIV. Ibanomonde Ngema from South Africa and Jerop Limo from Kenya will call on leaders to invest in youth-friendly health systems, provide holistic services for young people living with HIV, and to partner with young people and communities, allowing them to lead in the response to HIV.

“Young people’s powerful and vibrant activism has driven so much of the progress made in the HIV response,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “They know what works for them. It is essential for leaders to listen to them to understand the specific challenges that young people face and how those challenges can be overcome. Leaders can only successfully plan how to end AIDS and sustain the advances made by partnering with young people living with HIV.”

“I am representing not only the voices of 1.5 million Kenyans living with HIV but all people living with HIV,” said Jerop Limo, a young Kenyan HIV activist. “I want leaders to leave New York knowing that we are not beneficiaries, we are equal rights holders. We have a voice, we have skills and expertise and we need an equal playing field where our data is valued, where our input is valued and where our voices are heard. We want meaningful and ethical engagement of adolescents and young people in all spaces of the AIDS response.”

Young people, especially adolescent girls and young women, are disproportionately affected by HIV. Globally, 44% of all new HIV infections were among women and girls (all ages) in 2023 and every week 4000 young women and girls around the world are infected with HIV—3100 are in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2023, some 3.1 million adolescents and young people (15-24 yrs) were living with HIV—1.9 million were adolescent girls and young women.

“Governments meeting here in New York cannot end AIDS alone. They need to involve us to find solutions. We have lived experiences of HIV, from treatment to mental health, because we navigate life with HIV every day. We need to be included in policymaking so that we can take full ownership of ending end AIDS as a public threat,” said Ibanomonde Ngema, a young South African AIDS activist. “The world can only benefit when young people are included in the global HIV response. No conversation about HIV should take place without us, from policy to practice in communities.”

Too often young people report facing stigma and discrimination, including from doctors and healthcare workers, when they access sexual and reproductive health and HIV services. This discourages them from seeking support and crucial information about their health, putting them at risk of HIV infection or of defaulting on treatment for those who are living with HIV.

Involvement of young people in the HIV response

Young people living with HIV play a critical role in the fight against AIDS in communities. They offer support and share important information about HIV that schools or parents might not talk about. They also challenge stigma and discrimination through social media, helping to save lives and encourage young people to stay on treatment.

They drive innovation in communities, for example, a self-funded project by the Youth Empowerment Group uses e-bikes to deliver antiretroviral medicines, food and adherence support to young people who often cannot attend clinics because their schooling hours conflict with clinic opening times in Namibia.

However, their transformational work is being held back because it is not being sufficiently supported. Youth-led HIV responses often operate with little or no financial and political support. At the UNGA the two young people will call on world leaders to fully support and fund their work. They will also urge leaders to uphold the human rights of young people as key to ending AIDS as a public health threat—they will call on them to protect young people’s right to healthcare, education, freedom of speech, and to provide social support to young people living with HIV.

“Providing treatment is not enough, young people living with HIV need an education and they need a job to survive,” added Jerop Limo. “We need to be seen as equal contributors and partners, and we need investment to allow us drive change. We are the leaders of the future and we need to be included now to help shape a better future for us all.”

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.

Key figures in the AIDS response came together at the 54th meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) to discuss how to ensure that the gains from the HIV response can be sustained beyond 2030.

During the PCB’s thematic segment, participants heard that the aim of sustainability is not to maintain the HIV response in its current form but to ensure the durability of the impact of the HIV response. This will require a shift in focus to long-term sustainability.

“Until there’s a cure or a vaccine, we will need to sustain the AIDS response beyond 2030, in every part of the world, in the north and in the south,” said Winnie Byanyima, UNAIDS Executive Director.  “Sustainability is at the heart of the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with the commitment that the needs of the present are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Remarks echoed by Florence Anam, co-Director of the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+), “People living with HIV will be here in 2031 and beyond so for us the sustainability of the HIV response is a journey of transformation and not a destination with an end date,” she said.  “It matters that at the center of this process of change, mechanisms are in place for all who need treatment and prevention services and that this care is inclusive, devoid of stigma and discrimination.”

The strategies and delivery mechanisms required for scaling up prevention and treatment services and to ensure a stable enabling environment to reach the 2030 target will differ from those that will be needed for long-term sustainability. Leveraging societal enablers will be especially critical for sustainability, including minimizing HIV vulnerability and ensuring access to services in future decades. Rather than build incrementally on what is already in place, sustainability will demand transformations in human rights based, people-centred policies, programmes and systems.

In addition, sustainability requires action on the political, financial, and programmatic front – and across sectors. Not only health, but also gender equality and education so that the economic and societal drivers of new infections are tackled.

Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile, in a video statement, said, “The combination of shared responsibility and country leadership is essential. Developing countries need to own the response and increase their self-reliance but global action is required to create an enabling environment for this to happen.”

Countries are being advised to prioritize the careful and effective integration of the HIV response in national health systems, with appropriate attention to reforms or modifications required for key and vulnerable populations. This transformation will increase efficiency, promote equity, maximize resource utilization and contribute to the dual goal of achieving and sustaining HIV epidemic control and strengthening human rights based, people-centred systems for health.

Together with its co-sponsors, partners such as PEPFAR and the Global Fund, and other stakeholders, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS are supporting countries to develop roadmaps to sustain their national AIDS responses.

"Sustainability road maps are critical, starting with the vision,” said Peter Sands, the Global Fund Director. “Strategic financing then needs to support the path to that vision, focused both on continuing to raise resources as well as using those that are available more efficiently. To optimize HIV and primary health care integration requires well- coordinated partnerships between governments, private sector companies, international organizations, and non-government organizations.”

John Nkengasong, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and head of PEPFAR, also stressed that gains in the HIV response are fragile and need to be sustained. "Today we find ourselves at a crossroads to 2030 where we go somewhere or we go nowhere,” he said. “2030 is critical because at that point the global community regardless of where people are sitting, either say we have done our best and we don’t know what else to do or do we say, ‘Yes, we can get to the finish line’...2030 is a mountaintop moment.”

Finally, sustainability will also require adapting measures and approaches in diverse settings, highlighting the importance of tailoring planning and implementation for specific contexts.

GENEVA, 27 June 2024—At the 54^th meeting of UNAIDS’ Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) which concluded today in Geneva, Switzerland, governments, civil society and United Nations agencies united in a shared commitment to accelerate progress to meet the 2025 AIDS targets and sustain the gains of the global HIV response toward 2030 and beyond.   

In her opening remarks to the meeting, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Winnie Byanyima, highlighted the urgency of accelerating progress to meet the 2030 target of ending AIDS as a public health threat. “The world has six years to reduce new HIV infection rates, expand antiretroviral treatment, and reduce AIDS-related deaths, but only 18 months to reach the 2025 targets which will determine whether or not countries will be able to end their pandemics by 2030.”

She warned that there was ‘nothing sustainable about an expanding pandemic’ and called on members to join UNAIDS in ‘throwing everything we can’ at HIV prevention, making medicines and health technologies for HIV prevention and treatment equitable, affordable and accessible, and building stronger health systems’.

“We have a choice,” said Ms Byanyima. “We can accelerate now, drive rates down, and succeed. Or we can get distracted, focus only on what we’ve gained so far, and miss the opportunity to end AIDS. We must accelerate in order to sustain.”

She noted that sustainability also requires progress on widening fiscal space and addressing indebtedness of low- and middle-income countries, protecting human rights and gender equality, and called on all partners and allies to embrace a ‘bold vision of sustainability—one capable of ending the AIDS pandemic.’

Ms Byanyima emphasised the funding constraints which are hampering progress in the AIDS response highlighting the US$ 8.5 billion shortfall in funding for HIV. In 2022, US$ 20.8 billion was available for HIV funding in low- and middle-income countries whereas the estimated need by 2025 is US$ 29.3 billion. She called on all donors to ensure that the Joint Programme is fully funded to the agreed minimum levels of US$ 160 million for 2024.

On the opening day of the meeting Germany announced that it would be increasing its funding to UNAIDS. “Germany has decided to increase its contribution to UNAIDS in 2024 by € 2 million, from € 4.75 million in 2023 to € 6.75 million. We trust that this decision shall contribute to the minimum budget requirements of US$ 160 million to ensure that UNAIDS can adequately implement its workplan and budget,” said Binod Mahanty, Senior Policy Advisor, Federal Ministry of Health of Germany.

The Board reviewed the performance of the Joint Programme and appreciated the wide scope and in-depth contribution of UNAIDS to the global AIDS response at the global, regional and country levels.

The critical role of communities in continuing to lead the way in responding to HIV was highlighted as central to sustainability of the HIV response, which was the focus of the thematic segment on the final day: Sustaining the gains of the global HIV response to 2030 and beyond.

Ms Byanyima said, “To end AIDS, the foundation must be people living with HIV, civil society and communities. They are indispensable and non-negotiable for ending the pandemic, sustaining the response and ensuring accountability for all.

Florence Riako Anam, Co-Executive Director of the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+), gave a powerful keynote address during the thematic session, she said, “People living with HIV will be here in 2031. For us, the sustainability of the HIV response is a journey of transformation and not a destination with an end date.” Other keynote speakers included H.E. Edwin Dikoloti, Minister of Health of Botswana and the Former President of the Republic of Chile Michelle Bachelet.

Ahead of the PCB, building on its longstanding partnership with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, UNAIDS signed a new strategic framework for cooperation and collaboration to end AIDS. Joining the PCB discussions the Director of the Global Fund, Peter Sands said, “Optimizing HIV and primary health care integration requires well-coordinated partnerships between governments, private sector companies, international organizations, and non-government organizations.”

John Nkengasong, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and head of PEPFAR, said that gains were fragile and need to be sustained. "2030 is critical because at that point the global community either says ‘we have done our best and we don’t know what else to do’ or do we say, ‘YES! we can get to the finish line’...2030 is a mountaintop moment.” He also called for UNAIDS to be fully funded to continue its life-saving work.

The Board meeting provided an opportunity for UNAIDS to announce a new high-level panel on a resilient and fit-for-purpose UNAIDS Joint Programme. The Panel will consider the evolution of the pandemic and the global response as well as the evolving country needs within the overall context of the Joint Programme’s mandate.

This week also saw the release of a new report by on Drug Use, Harm Reduction and the Right to Health, demonstrating the public health necessity of moving away from punitive approaches to people who use drugs – a step towards ensuring access to health care for marginalized communities.

The 54^th PCB was chaired by Kenya, represented by Harry Kimtai, Principal Secretary, State Department for Medical Services, Nairobi, with Brazil serving as the Vice-Chair and Netherlands as Rapporteur. The Report to the Board by the UNAIDS Executive Director, and the reports for each agenda item and the PCB’s decisions can be found at: 54^th UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board.

The 55^th meeting of the PCB will take place 10-12 December 2024, in Nairobi, Kenya.

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.

GENEVA, 19 December 2023—During the 53rd meeting of UNAIDS’ Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) held in Geneva, Switzerland, the UNAIDS board adopted decisions on key populations with a focus to increase access to HIV prevention, testing, treatment and other social protection services for transgender people.

Member states and the Joint Programme recognized that each key population, including transgender people, is diverse, and experiences multiple and intersecting forms of stigma and discrimination, and therefore requires evidence-based, data-informed tailored programmes, services and resources that are responsive to their specific needs in the HIV response.

Exact follow-up actions they agreed upon include:

• Address gaps in population size estimates and expand disaggregated data on key populations focusing on existing gaps in transgender populations, in diverse situations and conditions, including through community-led data generation;
• Optimally resource and scale-up tailored and effective HIV prevention, testing and treatment programmes and services that address the diverse needs and circumstances of key populations, including transgender people;
• Increase the proportion of community-led services for HIV prevention, testing and treatment and for societal enablers to reach the 30-80-60 targets, as described in the Global AIDS Strategy 2021-2026, including through mechanisms to increase and facilitate funding and sustainable financing for community-led HIV organizations, including for those led by key populations;
• Address gender inequality, all forms of stigma, discrimination and marginalization, and review and reform harmful and punitive laws and policies that hinder access to HIV-related services for key populations;
• Reinforce an evidence-based public health approach to HIV, particularly in the context of gender equality and human rights;
• Integrate social protection with health and HIV responses by taking people-centered approaches, which addresses economic inequalities making education, welfare, and social protection systems more inclusive of key populations.

And finally, the board requested UNAIDS to reinforce and expand the meaningful engagement and leadership of all key populations, including transgender people, in the HIV response.

This is the first time a member state-led UN body has adopted a consensus decision (without a vote) that includes specific references and commitments to transgender people and actions to be taken by member states. Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS Christine Stegling said, “We have broken through a barrier. UNAIDS is now fully focused on maximizing the programmatic impact of this decision in-country, for communities and with communities.”

The past two PCB meetings took place midway through the Global AIDS Strategy 2021-2026 so this decision will help UNAIDS focus on achieving the 2025 targets. The UNAIDS PCB is the premier UN and global forum on HIV, bringing together civil society, cosponsors and member states to help chart the future of the response to HIV, including the development of the next Global AIDS Strategy, the vision for 2030 and beyond. The PCB NGO delegates are comprised of people living with HIV and/or key populations including transgender people. They participate in all aspects of the board’s work and strongly advocate for people living with HIV and affected by HIV.

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 collaboration between UNAIDS and China was the focus of a consultation that took place on the sidelines of the 53 meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board.

The consultation brought together members of UNAIDS senior leadership, representatives from WHO and the Global Fund, and Chinese health authorities, to develop a bilateral strategic action framework and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to expand and quicken the pace of the HIV response in China and globally. 

“We are at a critical time in the HIV response, and we have a great opportunity that the Chinese delegation is here for our Programme Coordinating Board meeting”, said Rosemary Museminali, UNAIDS Director of the Office of Multilateral Systems, in her introductions.

Building on China’s long-standing international cooperation on health, participants acknowledged the potential to engage China more prominently in global efforts to end AIDS, especially under the South-South Cooperation framework and in line with China’s development schemes including Belt and Road Initiative and Global Development Initiative which aim at promoting global development and helping other developing countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

UNAIDS pointed out that China has a pivotal role to play in promoting local production of medicines and health commodities. At the same time, there is a need to build and expand relationships with other government departments to leverage all available resources to implement international best practices, promote access to quality services and support civil society’s engagement in HIV response.

Ren Minghui, Director of Global Health Institute of Peking University Health Science Center, is helping UNAIDS develop the framework and MoU. He outlined some initial key points in positioning HIV in the overall health strategy and broader development agenda. He also highlighted China’s specific context, including its increased contributions to global health and the HIV response, China-led initiatives and South-South collaboration, as well as a special call from President Xi to build a community with a shared and healthy future for mankind.

“There are important elements for China and for the global AIDS response, but for these we need to address equality and have a multisectoral mechanism,” said Ren Minghui.

Participants shared ideas on how to facilitate the development process of the two documents, which will take place over the next six months.

Prior to the consultation meeting, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima met with the Chinese delegation for the PCB meeting. She congratulated China’s progress in HIV prevention and treatment and urged more efforts to be made to address challenges such as providing quality treatment for people living with HIV, increasing testing, improving HIV prevention and eliminating stigma and discrimination.

“I hope China can play a bigger role to end AIDS at home and globally”, Winnie Byanyima told the delegation. 

GENEVA, 14 December 2023—The 53^rd meeting of UNAIDS’ Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) concluded today in Geneva, Switzerland, with Board members making strong commitments to redouble efforts to end AIDS by 2030.

In her remarks to the Board the Executive Director of UNAIDS Winnie Byanyima said, “I wish I could tell you now was the time to relax, but we are not done yet. And pulling back before we are done—that is how pandemics resurge; how the least powerful get left behind; how the virus thrives. In a pandemic, there is no standing still. If we do not make progress, the virus will.”

This PCB meeting took place at a critical time for the response to HIV, midway through the Global AIDS Strategy 2021-2026 as UNAIDS is redoubling its focus on achieving the 2025 targets.

The First Lady of Namibia, Monica Geingos, delivered the keynote address saying, “Partial success in the AIDS response coupled with emerging pandemics has given rise to complacency that must be reversed. Fresh thinking and approaches are urgently required to reach the 2025 targets and to achieve the goal of ending the pandemic by 2030.”

Addressing the shortfalls in global funding for HIV and for UNAIDS, Ms Byanyima urged donors to front-load resources, support developing countries to grow their fiscal space, and to fully fund UNAIDS with multi-year funding (UNAIDS currently has a shortfall of US$ 50 million). In 2022, US$ 20.8 billion was available for the global response to HIV, far short of the US$ 29.3 billion needed by 2025.

“We remain deeply concerned about the current funding situation of the Joint Programme and the expected impact on different strategic result areas. We are encouraging all PCB member states and observers to seek ways to augment their support to the Joint Programme in 2024,” said Binod Mahanty, Health Adviser, Federal Ministry of Health of Germany.

Several donors have recently increased their core contributions to UNAIDS, including Côte d’Ivoire, the Netherlands and the United States. During the meeting France announced a 50% increase in its voluntary contribution to UNAIDS, Germany announced an additional 1 million Euros, and Luxembourg announced an additional 100 000 Euros for UNAIDS.

Other countries have also stepped-up support recently, including Australia which announced an investment of up to AU$12 million for a new partnership with UNAIDS to let communities lead in ending AIDS in the Asia Pacific region. Let Communities Lead was the theme of this year’s World AIDS Day report from UNAIDS, which emphasized the critical role communities play in responding to HIV, and how underfunding and harmful barriers are holding back their lifesaving work and obstructing the end of AIDS.

“UNAIDS is a strong voice promoting human rights and fighting inequality, through the evidence-based work addressing the social determinants of HIV, including stigma and discrimination based on gender and sexual identity,” said, Ms Jannicke Graartrud Deputy Permanent Representative of Norway.

"UNAIDS has been providing Cambodia with important support through resource mobilization, a sustainability roadmap and strategic plan, strategic information and data collection and analysis, scale up of innovative prevention and treatment tools as well as on community engagement and strengthening community-led activities," said Mouly Ieng, Senior Minister, Chair of the National AIDS Authority of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. "Countries are making significant efforts, please do not leave us behind."

A thematic segment on HIV testing was held on the last day of the PCB. Board members discussed how HIV testing services are the gateway to HIV prevention, treatment, care and other support services. The Keynote speaker for the HIV testing segment was Professor Kevin Fenton CBE, Public Health England. He said, “In our efforts to end HIV transmission by 2030, we must let communities lead in redoubling our efforts to deliver what we know works – HIV prevention, testing, PrEP and HIV treatment – at scale. And we must work to end HIV stigma, which prevents so many from living their authentic life, full of compassion, free of fear and able to contribute fully to society.”

“Ending AIDS is possible but only if we take bold action to revolutionize HIV prevention, scale-up testing, fight stigma, discrimination and inequalities, reach young women and girls and key populations with HIV services, remove harmful laws, increase resources and strengthen the multisectoral approach,” said Ms Byanyima.

The UNAIDS PCB is the premier UN and global forum on HIV, bringing together civil society, co-sponsors and member states to help chart the co-creation of the future of the response to HIV, including the development of the next Global AIDS Strategy, the vision for 2030 and beyond. 

The 53^rd meeting of the PCB was chaired by Germany, with Kenya serving as the Vice-Chair and Brazil as Rapporteur. The 54^th meeting to be held in June 2024, will be chaired by Kenya, with Brazil serving as Vice-Chair and the Netherlands as Rapporteur.

Read the Report to the Board by the UNAIDS Executive Director.

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.