UNAIDS is deeply saddened by the passing of His Excellency Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, a steadfast champion of dignity, inclusion, and the HIV response across the Pacific.

“Ratu Epeli Nailatikau played an important role in shaping the HIV response in the Pacific. His efforts to address stigma and promote community-led approaches have left a lasting impact on the region’s journey toward ending AIDS.” – Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS

As UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador for the Pacific, and across his distinguished service as Speaker of Parliament and former President of Fiji, Ratu Epeli demonstrated a rare combination of leadership and humility, using his influence not for recognition, but in service of others, particularly the most vulnerable.

His commitment to HIV was deeply personal and unwavering. He stood publicly and consistently with communities affected by HIV, at a time when stigma and silence often prevailed. He used his voice to normalize open dialogue, challenge discrimination, and advocate for responses grounded in dignity and human rights.

Ratu Epeli’s contributions to the HIV response in Fiji and the Pacific were both visible and transformative. He played a pioneering role in convening regional leadership, including chairing a landmark meeting of Pacific Parliamentarians on HIV in 2004 in Fiji, helping to elevate political ownership of the response at an early stage. He championed legal and policy reforms that strengthened the enabling environment for HIV, including his leadership during the enactment of Fiji’s HIV/AIDS Act in 2011, which embedded a human rights-based approach to the national response. He also supported the removal of HIV-related travel restrictions, positioning Fiji as a leader in reducing discrimination and advancing equitable access to services.

Beyond policy, he was deeply engaged at the community level. He travelled across Fiji, including visiting schools, to speak directly with young people about HIV prevention, awareness, and responsibility, helping to shape a generation with greater understanding and openness. He also engaged directly with people living with HIV and key populations, lending his presence and voice to efforts aimed at breaking down stigma and strengthening community-led responses.

Ratu Epeli worked closely with UNAIDS over many years, not as a symbolic figure, but as an active and trusted partner. From global platforms, including addressing the United Nations High-Level Meeting on AIDS, to national and community engagements, he consistently called for bold action to end stigma and advance equitable access to prevention, treatment, and care.

He was more than an ambassador in title. He was a bridge between leadership and community, between policy and lived experience. His advocacy helped shape a more open, inclusive, and people-centred HIV response in Fiji and across the Pacific. Like the spirit of rugby he often invoked, he reminded us that ending AIDS requires teamwork, discipline, and collective responsibility, no one wins unless we move forward together.

UNAIDS extends its heartfelt condolences to his family, the people of Fiji, and communities across the Pacific whose lives he touched through his leadership and compassion.

His voice will be deeply missed, but his legacy will endure in the continued effort to end HIV and ensure that no one is left behind.

During the 2026 Carnival in Salvador de Bahia—one of the largest street festivals in Brazil, which gathered around 12 million people—UNAIDS, the Municipal Health Secretariat of Salvador, Bahia, and the non-governmental organization Motirô BA provided HIV information, testing and prevention services to its participants through the “Rolê da Prevenção” initiative.  

Rolê da Prevenção (which could be translated to English as Prevention Hangout) was carried out as a pilot in 2025 and following its success, it was incorporated by the city’s authorities as one of the 2026 official health activities of the Carnival. This represented a significant increase in the uptake of HIV testing and outreach. In total, 1.7 million male and female condoms were distributed and nearly 8,000 rapid HIV tests were performed—an increase of 68% compared to the same period previous year.  

According to Salvador’s Municipal Health Secretary, Rodrigo Alves, this initiative strengthens the city’s commitment to equity. “Rolê da Prevenção is an initiative that reaffirms our commitment to care, especially for the populations most vulnerable during Carnival. We are expanding access to testing, prevention supplies and quality information, bringing prevention closer to those who need it most. Our goal is to ensure that the celebration is also a space for care, protection and access to health services.” 

In 2025, UNAIDS conducted peer education trainings on combination HIV prevention, including capacity building on health equity and ways to respond to racism and LGBTphobia. This year, the same peer educators, financed by the local government through Motirô BA, offered rapid tests for HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B and C along with qualified counselling and referrals for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP). 

The outreach teams were composed of members of key populations—such as people from the LGBTQIA+ community and black communities—thereby strengthening connection, identification and trust with the public and increasing community engagement. 

All HIV prevention supplies (condoms, lubricants), diagnostic supplies (HIV testing and self-testing), and treatment supplies (care and specialized services) were provided free of charge to everyone by the Unified Health System (SUS), Brazil’s public health system. 

“The continuation of the Rolê da Prevenção initiative in 2026 reinforces the priorities of the Global AIDS Strategy 2026–2031, especially the request for national responses to meet people’s needs and to be inclusive and multisectoral,” said Andrea Boccardi Vidarte. “Being where people are is essential to effectively responding to HIV.”  

In the context of Salvador’s Carnival—internationally recognized for its scale and diversity—health, culture and rights move forward together, strengthening the local response to HIV and reaffirming that HIV prevention and celebration can and should go side by side.  

UNAIDS urges the President not to sign the Bill and calls on Senegal to safeguard life-saving health services including HIV prevention, treatment and care.

GENEVA/DAKAR, 18 March 2026—On 12 March 2026, the Parliament of Senegal voted overwhelmingly to impose harsher penalties for “unnatural acts” including homosexuality and promoting or encouraging homosexuality. UNAIDS is deeply concerned about the implications for the country's public health achievements and urges the President not to sign the Bill.

The final adopted text includes a critical public health safeguard clause which UNAIDS urges Senegal to adhere to. The clause reads: “However, activities carried out by duly authorized health structures and organizations within the framework of public health policies shall not be considered as offenses under this article.”

UNAIDS acknowledges and values Senegal's longstanding partnership in the fight against HIV. The Ministry of Health and the country's National Council for the Fight Against AIDS have worked with partners to ensure that people living with HIV can access the care they need and that prevention reaches the populations most at risk. These gains have saved lives and represent an investment by the Senegalese people in their own health and future.

Senegal is confronted however, by significant challenges in its response to HIV and UNAIDS urges Senegal to maintain a strong focus on the public health evidence, legal framework and community partnerships required to achieve impact and a sustainable response with essential services accessible to the most vulnerable people. 

In Senegal, 79% of people living with HIV are on lifesaving treatment, however, between 2010 and 2024, new HIV infections in Senegal increased by 36% making Senegal one of only four countries in the West and Central African region experiencing a rise in new HIV infections. 

Evidence shows that criminalization causes people to turn away from health services. Criminal laws also increase stigma and discrimination against groups that are already marginalized. An effective HIV response based on solid public health evidence and protections for access to services for the most vulnerable is urgent for Senegal. 

UNAIDS calls on Government authorities to:

• Ensure the full and effective implementation of the public health exemption enshrined in the Bill, through clear ministerial guidance and legal certainty for health organizations and workers.
• Protect the confidentiality of medical information and the patient-provider relationship as non-negotiable foundations of a functioning health system.
• Ensure that community-based organizations providing HIV prevention, testing, treatment support, harm reduction and care can continue to operate without fear of prosecution.
• Maintain international funding channels and partnership frameworks that sustain HIV service delivery and ensure that donors and implementing partners have legal clarity regarding their continued engagement.
• Engage in open dialogue with health authorities, civil society, and UN partners to monitor the impact of the Bill on service access and take swift action where public health gains are at risk.

Ending AIDS requires reaching everyone, particularly people most at risk of HIV. UNAIDS remains committed to working together with Senegal to end AIDS as a public health threat in the country.

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.

At the 69th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), UNAIDS, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD), together with partners, launched a new joint guidance note titled Decriminalization of drug use in the context of HIV. 

The new guidance note provides governments with practical, evidence-based recommendations on how to align drug policies with human rights standards, public health principles and the lived realities of people who use drugs. 

People who use drugs are disproportionately impacted by the HIV epidemic. Globally, people who inject drugs are 14 times more at risk of contracting HIV than the general adult (15-49) population and 8% of all new HIV infections were among people who inject drugs, according to 2025 data.  

More than four decades of the HIV response have shown that public health approaches are the most effective way to support people who use drugs and keep them connected to essential services, including HIV prevention, testing and treatment. Harm reduction services, including needle and syringe programmes and opioid agonist maintenance treatment, have been proven time and again to be effective in significantly reducing the risk of acquiring HIV, viral hepatitis and other blood-borne viruses. In addition, access to HIV testing and treatment can enable people living with HIV to reduce their viral load to undetectable, preventing sexual transmission of HIV.  

The decriminalization of people who use drugs, combined with investments in harm reduction services, can expand access to care and enable people to seek support without fear of arrest, harassment or discrimination. However, existing punitive drug laws continue to drive millions of people who use drugs away from lifesaving HIV services, fueling stigma and discrimination and undermining progress towards global HIV targets. 

“Punitive laws undermine the HIV response. Criminalization drives stigma, pushes people away from services, and weakens community-led responses. The evidence is clear,” said Eamonn Murphy, UNAIDS Regional Director for Easter Europe and Central Asia and Asia and the Pacific. “What we need now is political leadership to translate evidence into legal, policy, and financing reforms.“ 

The guidance note comes at a critical time for the global HIV response. As no country currently fully meets global harm reduction coverage targets, the document highlights the urgent need for legal and policy reform particularly amid financial instability in the AIDS response. This funding crunch makes it increasingly important to invest limited resources where they are most effective. 

The new guidance note does not prescribe a single approach. Instead, it draws on decades of global experience and presents a range of evidence-informed approaches that countries can adapt to their national contexts including the development of clear criteria for distinguishing between drug possession for personal use and possession for supply for profit and the removal of criminal penalties for minor non-violent drug offences. It also helps policymakers work through key policy questions such as which alternative sanctions are appropriate; how not to recreate the harms of criminalization through the introduction of fines; how to ensure that referrals to treatment are voluntary and increase access to evidence‑based care; how to anticipate the potential impacts of legal and policy changes on HIV outcomes; and how to meaningfully engage communities of people who use drugs in answering these complex questions. 

Communities of people who use drugs helped develop the guidelines ensuring that it responds to realities on the ground. The document outlines steps countries can take to review and reform punitive laws, expand harm reduction services, reduce stigma, and embed community leadership in national HIV responses. 

“This guidance recognizes that people who use drugs must be at the centre of decisions affecting our health and rights so when lived expertise is included, HIV responses become more humane and effective,” said Anton Basenko of International Network of People who Use Drugs. The current Global AIDS Strategy for 2026-2031 calls for removing legal and policy barriers for key populations, scaling up harm reduction, and ensuring that community leadership is fully recognized and resourced. Ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 will not be possible without addressing criminalization and the inequalities that drive HIV vulnerability among people who use drugs.