President Macky Sall of Senegal, who met with UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé in Dakar, Senegal, on 7 October, vowed to support an emergency plan to reach the goal of 90% of people living with HIV in western and central Africa accessing antiretroviral therapy by 2020.

In 2015, 28% of the 6.5 million people living with HIV in the region had access to the life-saving medicine, up from 14% in 2010.

During the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS, held in June 2016, Mr Sidibé appealed to countries to Fast-Track the AIDS response in order to ensure that no one is left behind.

Ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 is possible if, by 2020, 90% of people living with HIV know their status, 90% who know their HIV-positive status are accessing treatment and 90% of people living with HIV on treatment have suppressed viral loads.

While in Senegal, Mr Sidibé also met the Minister of Health, Awa Marie Coll-Seck, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mankeur Ndiaye.

Quotes

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé has met with the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and discussed how to keep western and central Africa from sliding further behind in efforts to end the AIDS epidemic.

President Sirleaf recently assumed the role of chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States and Mr Sidibé hoped that she would use this platform and opportunity to bring leaders together to adopt an emergency plan for scaling up the AIDS response for western and central Africa. 

President Sirleaf said that the country is emerging from rebuilding trust in health services after the Ebola crisis and agreed that it was time to assess what countries can do to focus and stay on course to end the AIDS epidemic.

Historically, western and central Africa has had lower levels of new HIV infections than other parts of the continent. However, new data are showing that while southern and eastern Africa has seen the number of new HIV infections decline, western and central Africa has not seen the same progress, in what is becoming an emerging emergency.

Quotes

On the sidelines of the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé has met with the President of Benin, Patrice Talon.

Mr Sidibé praised the country for integrating HIV and health services to include tuberculosis and other epidemics, as well as Benin’s efforts to stop HIV transmission from mother to child.

President Talon said that we have the tools to end all forms of HIV transmission.

The wide-ranging conversation covered a number of issues focused on innovation and integration, including the untapped potential for local production.

President Talon and Mr Sidibé were joined by First Lady Claudine Talon, who has made health one of the issues she is championing in Benin. 

Benin recently made news as one of nine countries in Africa to make contributions to the replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Quotes

Côte d’Ivoire’s engagement in the future of global health, and in particular in ending the AIDS epidemic, is a strong demonstration of the progressive leadership of the country.

Côte d’Ivoire has been working closely with UNAIDS for many years to scale up its domestic response to HIV, stop new HIV infections and ensure access to treatment. Now, Côte d’Ivoire is expanding its reach and efforts to improve the lives of people living with and affected by HIV, not just in its own country but across the globe.

Côte d’Ivoire has recently announced a US$ 1 million donation to UNAIDS to support UNAIDS’ efforts to Fast-Track the response to HIV and end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030. The announcement was made at the Fifth Replenishment Conference of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund), where Côte d'Ivoire was among nine African countries that made pledges to the Global Fund, a greater number than ever before and an encouraging sign that countries across Africa are becoming more engaged in improving global health outcomes.

The President and First lady of Côte d'Ivoire, were in New York, United States of America this week for the 71 United Nations General Assembly. The First Lady, Dominique Ouattara, met with the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, to discuss future projects and ways of advancing her personal efforts in stopping new HIV infections among children.

Putting children and families first has been a long-term commitment of Ms Ouattara. Through her multiple platforms, she has championed the rights of children for access to health and education for a number of years. In 2014, UNAIDS appointed Ms Ouattara as a Special Ambassador for the Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission and the Promotion of Paediatric Treatment for HIV. The next phase of UNAIDS’ work with Ms Ouattara will be on further integration of HIV and health programmes, particularly those concerning young people. 

During his attendance at the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé met with the President of Guinea, Alpha Condé, to discuss the AIDS response in Guinea and across the wider region of western and central Africa.

Their discussions focused on the need for a fully-funded AIDS response and concerns that the region is not making sufficient headway in reducing the impact of the AIDS epidemic.

Historically, western and central Africa has had lower levels of new HIV infections than other parts of the continent. However, new data are showing that while southern and eastern Africa has seen the number of new HIV infections decline, western and central Africa has not seen the same progress.

Mr Condé said he was fully supportive of the proposed adoption of an emergency plan for scaling up the AIDS response across the region.        

African ministers of health called on the international community to make ending the paediatric AIDS epidemic a global political priority. Meeting in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on 10 May, dignitaries called for the Political Declaration on Ending AIDS, to be agreed upon at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS, to include targets to scale up prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV services and paediatric HIV testing and treatment.

Participants included 11 national ministers, as well as deputy ministers and senior HIV programme officials from across Africa, which is home to nearly 90% of all children living with HIV.

In 2014, 2.6 million children were living with HIV and 32% had access to antiretroviral therapy. Without treatment, half of all children living with HIV will die before they are two years old.

“Ending paediatric AIDS requires action at two levels,” said the First Lady of Côte d’Ivoire, Dominique Ouattara, UNAIDS Special Ambassador for the Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission and the Promotion of Paediatric Treatment for HIV. “On the one hand, we must prevent new HIV infections among children, and, on the other hand, we must provide treatment and care to all children who are living with HIV.”

Continued progress in preventing new HIV infections among children has been made by ensuring all pregnant women are tested for HIV and women living with HIV receive treatment. This has established a strong foundation for ending paediatric AIDS. But to make it a thing of the past, substantially better results are needed across the HIV treatment cascade for children.

UNAIDS projects that it is possible to end the epidemic of paediatric AIDS by 2020 if prevention and treatment targets are met by 2018. These include reaching 95% treatment coverage for both pregnant women and children living with HIV.

Recent trends point towards the feasibility of achieving these targets. Major gains have been made in providing antiretroviral medicines to pregnant women living with HIV to prevent transmission of HIV to their babies. From 2010 to 2014, new HIV infections among children dropped by 58%. In the same period, HIV treatment coverage among children living with HIV more than doubled.

However, more needs to be done to ensure that no child is left behind. “Today we have effective treatment regimens, yet how many children are still dying in the age of antiretroviral therapy?,” asked Jeanne Gapiya Niyonzima, president of the Burundi Association Nationale de Soutien aux Séropositifs et aux Malades du SIDA and mother of a child who died of AIDS-related causes at 18 months of age.

“This is a question of social justice, a question of equality,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. “We have the opportunity to have a Political Declaration on Ending AIDS from the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS to help us set concrete objectives so that treatment becomes universal for everyone, wherever they find themselves.”

The African ministers attending the Abidjan meeting called for the Political Declaration on Ending AIDS to include clear targets to scale up prevention and treatment services in order to end paediatric AIDS. To achieve these targets, the ministers endorsed the immediate front-loading of resources for paediatric HIV treatment and the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

Scientific developments have the potential to dramatically improve treatment outcomes for children. Ministers noted the importance of fully leveraging and scaling up innovative tools, including point-of-care technologies for early infant diagnosis, paediatric treatment regimens recommended by the World Health Organization and family-centred service delivery approaches that improve retention in care and treatment adherence.

Ministers called for UNAIDS to coordinate initiatives on paediatric HIV treatment across all sectors. “We need to strengthen cooperation among stakeholders to get better results for children,” said Juliet Kavetuna, Deputy Minister of Health and Social Services of Namibia. “If we work in silos, we will never achieve our goal.”

The meeting generated considerable optimism regarding the potential to meet the 2018 targets for children. “We know what we have to do,” said David Parirenyatwa, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Health and Child Care. “The key is to do it in a systematic way and ensure that it is well-funded.”

Uganda’s Minister of State for Primary Health Care, Sarah Opendi, said, “Working together, we can end the AIDS epidemic among children, and also among adults.”

Prior to the closing remarks by the First Lady of Côte d’Ivoire, Mr Sidibé was presented with the Grand Officier de l'Ordre National de la République de Côte d'Ivoire, in recognition of his global leadership on behalf of children affected by HIV. In accepting the award, Mr Sidibé encouraged all participants to work towards the goal of ending paediatric AIDS.

Leading donors, programme implementers and civil society involved in paediatric HIV treatment, as well as private industry, also attended the ministerial meeting. The event was convened by UNAIDS, the Government of Côte d’Ivoire, ELMA Philanthropies, Funders Concerned About AIDS, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Johnson & Johnson and Luxembourg. More than 150 people from 34 countries participated.

http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/documents/2016/country_profile_Sierra-Leone

The Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, welcomed the First Lady of Côte d’Ivoire, Dominique Ouattara, to UNAIDS headquarters on 25 April. During their meeting, they reviewed the substantial progress made in stopping new HIV infections among children in Côte d’Ivoire. More than 80% of pregnant women living with HIV in Côte d’Ivoire have access to antiretroviral therapy, up from 48% in 2009, and new infections among children have dropped by 26% since 2009.

In December 2014, Mr Sidibé presented Ms Ouattara with the title of UNAIDS Special Ambassador for the Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission and the Promotion of Paediatric Treatment for HIV for her humanitarian work and her commitment to improving access to paediatric treatment for children living with HIV. 

During her visit to UNAIDS, Mr Sidibé commended the First Lady’s work in raising awareness around HIV in western and central Africa. He also outlined the importance of focusing on women, children and adolescents in cities, particularly in Abidjan, the capital of Côte d’Ivoire, where more than one third of all people living with HIV in the country live.

Ms Ouattara, a long-time humanitarian activist, conveyed her thanks to UNAIDS and reiterated her commitment to focus on early paediatric diagnosis, treatment and education and on achieving zero discrimination. 

Quotes

Guinea’s health system was devastated by the Ebola outbreak that swept through the country in late 2014 and early 2015. More than 11 300 people died in Guinea and in neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone, which are slowly recovering from the crisis.

During a meeting with Guinea’s President, Alpha Condé, on 30 March, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé praised the efforts undertaken by the government and its partners to respond to the crisis and contain the spread of the Ebola virus. Mr. Sidibé said that the AIDS epidemic and Ebola outbreak were similar in many ways, from the pervasive stigma and discrimination faced by people affected to the medical challenges posed. He also commended the government for its continued commitment to end the AIDS epidemic and discussed its plans to strengthen domestic investment in HIV services and programmes throughout the country.

In meetings with the Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Health held during his three-day visit to the country, Mr Sidibé stressed the importance of strong and sustained investment to end the AIDS epidemic. With the First Lady of Guinea, Djene Kaba Condé, he spoke about maternal and child health and the measures required to ensure all babies are born free of HIV and that their mothers stay healthy.

Guinea offers antiretroviral treatment to all people living with HIV free-of-charge. Coverage in 2014 was estimated at 27% among 120 000 people living with HIV. 

Quotes