Feature Story

In many parts of the world, a combination of social taboos, unavailability of sound information, lack of resources and infrastructure leave many young people vulnerable to coercion, abuse, exploitation, unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Sexuality education can play a key role in improving knowledge and reducing sexual risk behaviours among young people. - Thu, 10 Dec 2009
More

The 25th meeting of the Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) of UNAIDS opened today in Geneva. Key agenda items include the recently completed Second Independent Evaluation of UNAIDS 2002-2008 and the anticipated impact that the financial crises on the AIDS response. - Tue, 08 Dec 2009
More

An independent Commission on AIDS in the Pacific recommends that HIV cannot be managed in isolation; it should be considered in the overall development context of the region. This is one of several recommendations stemming from the report that was launched today by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the United Nations in New York. - Wed, 02 Dec 2009
More

The outcomes of the Second Independent Evaluation of UNAIDS came before the 25th UNAIDS Programme Coordinating board (PCB) meeting in December 2009 with the presentation of reports from the Oversight Committee and the Evaluation Team as well as a written response from UNAIDS. The evaluation was a 20 month long process to reassess priorities, build on achievements, and determine how UNAIDS can best position the United Nations response to AIDS. Consultations were held in countries and at headquarters with Member States, UNAIDS Secretariat, Cosponsors and civil society. The PCB reviewed the findings as well as UNAIDS’s response and took decisions on next steps which will now see the implementation over the next 18 months of some 24 recommendations.
Read more on Second Independent Evaluation of UNAIDS
Read the decisions of 25th PCB (pdf, 65 Kb.)

On the eve of World AIDS Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) is releasing new recommendations on treatment, prevention and infant feeding in the context of HIV, based on the latest scientific evidence. - Mon, 30 Nov 2009
More

Mr Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director, met with Vice Premiere of the People’s Republic of China Li Keqiang in Beijing during his week long visit to the country. - Fri, 27 Nov 2009.
More

It’s clear that the HIV epidemic the world faces today is not the same as when it peaked in 1996. The number of people living with HIV globally is now at 33.4 million and although 2.7 million people became newly infected with HIV in 2008, good news is that this is a decrease by 17% over the last eight years. - Tue, 24 Nov 2009.
More

Efforts towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support are bringing AIDS out of isolation. - According to new data in the 2009 AIDS epidemic update, new HIV infections have been reduced by 17% over the past eight years. - Tue, 24 Nov 2009
More

Numerous studies from around the globe confirm the links between violence against women and HIV. These studies show that women living with HIV are more likely to have experienced violence, and that, women who have experienced violence are more likely to have HIV infection. - Tue, 10 Nov 2009
More

Geneva/New York, 31 October 2009 — UNAIDS welcomes President Obama’s announcement of the final rule removing entry restrictions based on HIV status from US policy. The removal of HIV-related travel restrictions in the US overturns a policy that had been in place since 1987. Such restrictions, strongly opposed by UNAIDS, are discriminatory and do not protect public health. - Sat, 31 Oct 2009
More

In his first visit to India as Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé has held a series of meetings with the Government in which he emphasized the role of political leadership to ensure that the country’s universal access goals to HIV prevention, care and treatment are achieved in India by 20. - Tue, 06 Oct 2009
More

More than 4 million people in low- and middle-income countries were receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) at the close of 2008, representing a 36% increase in one year and a ten-fold increase over five years, according to a new report released today by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). - Wed, 30 Sep 2009
More

The Jeux de la Francophonie, the Francophone Games, have been opened in Beirut by His Excellency Michel Suleiman, the President of Lebanon. UNAIDS is an official partner to the games where sport and culture combine to foster dialogue and understanding among French speaking nations. - Mon, 28 Sep 2009
More

UNAIDS and cosponsors UNICEF, UNFPA and WHO have joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNIFEM and private sector supporters through the Clinton Global Initiative to address the injustices and health impact of sexual violence against girls. The initiative, launched in New York by the partners, will focus on countries where sexual violence is a key initiation point for the spread of HIV and other infectious diseases. - Fri, 25 Sep 2009
More

Geneva, 24 September 2009 – The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) are optimistic about the results, announced today, of the largest ever HIV vaccine clinical trial held to date. - Thu, 24 Sep 2009
More

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy echoed UNAIDS call to virtually eliminate mother-to-child HIV transmission by 2015 while addressing the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and leaders at a side event to the opening of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. - Wed, 23 Sep 2009
More

UNAIDS and the Millennium Villages Project signed an agreement in New York to strengthen efforts to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Africa. The aim of the partnership is to help local governments create “Mother to child transmission-free zones” in 14 ‘Millennium Villages’ across ten African countries. - Mon, 21 Sep 2009
More

The President of the Republic of Indonesia, H.E. Hj. Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has officially opened the 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP), which this year takes place in Bali, Indonesia from 9-13 August under the theme “Empowering people, strengthening networks”. - Sun, 09 Aug 2009
More

The Delhi High Court declared section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminalised consensual sexual acts of adults in private as violative of the rights to privacy, liberty, health and equality enshrined in the Constitution of India. Though the decision was largely seen as a victory for the men who sex with men and transgender people, it is a victory for all – regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. The judgment is noteworthy and progressive in terms of its rejection of a hete - Tue, 07 Jul 2009
More

UNAIDS Governing body, the Programme Coordinating Board (PCB), is holding its 24th meeting in Geneva from 22-24 June 2009. This year’s thematic session is focusing on addressing the HIV-related needs of “people on the move”. Mr Michel Sidibé will also give his first address to the Board members in the role of UNAIDS Executive Director. - Mon, 22 Jun 2009
More

As the HIV response represents one of the soundest of all possible global investments, it is critical that commitment to HIV efforts be maintained and strengthened in the midst of these economic challenges - Report of the Secretary-General to the 63rd General Assembly. - Tue, 16 Jun 2009
More

From June 10-14, more than 1,500 implementers from around the world will gather in Windhoek to share best practices and lessons learned during the implementation of multi-sectoral AIDS programs with a focus on optimizing the impact of prevention, treatment and care programs; enhancing program quality; promoting coordination among partners; and encouraging innovative responses. - Wed, 10 Jun 2009
More

The United Nations Secretary-General Mr Ban Ki-moon held a meeting in Geneva with HIV positive UN staff members. The staff are part of a UN system-wide advocacy group called UN Plus which was set up in 2005 to promote the rights of HIV-positive staff and provide peer support. - Wed, 20 May 2009
More

A new UNAIDS Action Framework on Universal Access for Men who have Sex with Men and for Transgender People sets out how UNAIDS will facilitate and support universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support for men who have sex with men and transgender people. Read more. - Fri, 15 May 2009
More

The 19th Board Meeting of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria concluded yesterday in Geneva, Switzerland. Opening a technical session on AIDS earlier today UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé reaffirmed UNAIDS commitment to its partnership and reiterated his call for a fully funded Global Fund. He called for bolder action in order to address the challenges facing the AIDS response. - Thu, 07 May 2009
More

Ever since HIV testing was developed in the early days of the epidemic, the role of people living with HIV in HIV prevention has been an important aspect of the AIDS response. Following the advent of combination antiretroviral treatment which significantly prolongs life and improves quality of life for people living with HIV, there have been increasing calls to incorporate what is known as ‘positive prevention’ in the continuum of prevention and care programmes and services. - Mon, 27 Apr 2009
More

It has long been suggested that concurrent sexual partnerships are one component responsible for creating sexual contact networks conducive to the rapid spread of HIV. On 20-21 April 2009, the UNAIDS Reference Group on Estimates, Modelling, and Projections convened a meeting to discuss the de?nition and measurement of concurrent sexual partnerships in Nairobi, Kenya. - Fri, 24 Apr 2009
More

The HIV organizational landscape has evolved and grown more complex over the past decade. UNAIDS, donors and civil society, including networks of people living with HIV, have rightly demanded greater clarity on the relationships between needs, financing, activities and outcomes. Also demanded is greater specificity about the role of UNAIDS and the Secretariat within the wider constellation of actors. - Wed, 22 Apr 2009
More

The Executive Director of UNAIDS, Mr Michel Sidibé, is in Brazil this week promoting greater awareness of the interlinked epidemics of HIV and tuberculosis, universal access to HIV services for all people in need, and the necessity to address stigma and discrimination in Brazil’s response to HIV. - Tue, 24 Mar 2009.
More

In 1998, the UN General Assembly held a Special Session on the world drug problem. At the time there was little discussion on the linkage between HIV and drugs. Today of the estimated 16 million people world wide who inject drugs—3 million are HIV positive. Any discussion on drugs cannot ignore their needs and human rights. - Wed, 11 Mar 2009
More

A new report released by UNAIDS, What countries need: Investments needed for 2010 targets estimates that an investment of US$ 25 billion will be required for the global AIDS response in 2010 for low- and middle-income countries—US$ 11.3 billion more than is available today. - Tue, 10 Feb 2009
More

This morning the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Mr Michel Sidibé gave his first major global statement at a public meeting in Khayelitsha a township on the outskirts of Cape Town in South Africa. - Tue, 10 Feb 2009.
More

Michel Sidibé was sworn in as new Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at UN Headquarters in New York yesterday. - Fri, 23 Jan 2009
More