Press release and statement archive

Geneva, 18 December 2008 – The governing body of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) met in Geneva, Switzerland from 15-17 December for the 23rd Meeting of the Programme Coordinating Board (PCB).

Geneva, 12 December 2008 – African musician Toumani Diabaté from Mali has been appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) to raise awareness on AIDS issues. Toumani Diabaté descends from a long line of oral historians and praise singers. He has blended this...

Geneva, 1 December, 2008 - On World AIDS Day the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Mr Michel Sidibé as the next Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

Geneva, 28 November 2008 – On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the first observance of World AIDS Day, a new report by UNAIDS calls on countries to realign HIV prevention programmes through understanding how the most recent HIV infections were transmitted, and understanding the reasons why they occurred.

Beijing, 30 November 2008 – Chinese AIDS authorities, with the support of UNAIDS, today unveiled three giant red ribbons on the iconic National Stadium - colloquially known as ‘the Bird’s Nest’ - to mark World AIDS Day. The display illustrates China’s commitment to the AIDS response and in particular, to...

Geneva, 27 November 2008— Criminalization of adult sexual behaviour and violation of human rights of people living with HIV are hampering HIV responses across the world. UNAIDS urges countries to remove laws and policies make it difficult for people to access HIV prevention and treatment and adopt laws that protect...

Geneva, 17 October 2008 - UNAIDS congratulates Dr Peter Piot on his appointment as the first Director of the new Institute for Global Health at Imperial College London. He will spearhead the institute’s quest to find far-reaching solutions to health problems that blight underprivileged populations worldwide.

Geneva, 14 October 2008 – UNAIDS mourns the death of Dr Allan Rosenfield, Dean Emeritus of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and longstanding professor in population studies and family health.

Geneva, 6 October 2008 – UNAIDS is pleased of the announcement by the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet to award the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine to French scientists Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier for their co-discovery of HIV.

Geneva, 26 September 2008 – It is with profound sadness that UNAIDS mourns the death of Jan-Olof Morfeldt, executive director of Noak’s Ark, a Swedish AIDS organization active in prevention and providing care and support for people living with HIV.

Significant progress towards reducing child and maternal mortality is being made but to meet the Millennium Development Goals 4,5,6, strategies aimed at reaching the world’s most inaccessible, marginalized and vulnerable populations will be required, health leaders said today.

NEW YORK, 23 September 2008 – Significant progress towards reducing child and maternal mortality is being made but to meet the Millennium Development Goals 4,5,6, strategies aimed at reaching the world’s most inaccessible, marginalized and vulnerable populations will be required, health leaders said today.

It is with profound sadness that UNAIDS mourns the death of staff member Mr Sam Were who recently passed away in Kampala, Uganda. Sam lived openly with HIV and served as a role model by declaring his HIV-positive status at a time when few people living with HIV were willing...

UNAIDS today acknowledges the life and legacy of Dr Jonathan Mann, a formative force in the fields of HIV, health and human rights. Dr Mann and his wife, AIDS researcher Mary-Lou Clements-Mann were on their way to Geneva when their plane crashed off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada on...

Recognizing the critical role that local organizations play in the response to HIV, five community organizations from Ghana, India, Iran, Malawi and Mexico were presented with Red Ribbon Awards at the International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2008) last night.

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) expresses deep concern over the safety of three individuals who were arrested at the HIV/AIDS Implementers Meeting held in Kampala, Uganda, 3-8 June 2008, and who are currently involved in ongoing court proceedings on charges of trespass.

Washington DC, 30 July 2008: This signing is a historic event. The world is beginning to

According to latest data released by UNAIDS in its 2008 Report on the global AIDS epidemic, the situation in the Caribbean regarding HIV remains precarious, despite a range of successes and gains. (Port of Spain, 29 July 2008).

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS welcomes U.S. Senate approval of the “Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde Global Leadership on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008.” With this key vote, the U.S. government has taken another major step in keeping its commitment to the global AIDS...

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) welcomes the decision reached by the Group of Eight (G8) leaders at the Summit in Hokkaido, Japan to honour in full their commitments to continue working towards the goal of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010.

The UN, Beijing Youth League, China Red Cross and MSI join forces with people living with HIV to train Olympic volunteers on HIV prevention and anti-discrimination

Joint Note for the Media WHO/UNAIDS

Governments review international response to AIDS at United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting 10-11 June 2008

The close of 2007 marks an important step in the history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Nearly 3 million people are now receiving anti-retroviral therapy (ART) in low- and middle-income countries, according to a new report launched today by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS...

UN General Assembly Convenes High-Level Meeting on AIDS - Governments to review progress on access to HIV treatment and prevention

It is with profound sadness that UNAIDS mourns the death of AIDS activist Wellington Solomon Adderly who was killed at his home in Nassau, Bahamas earlier this week. Mr Adderly was one of the leading figures in the response to HIV in the Bahamas having served for many years as...

Since the beginning of the HIV epidemic, governments have prevented people living with HIV from entering or residing in their countries based solely on their HIV status. Such restrictions have stopped HIV positive people from travelling for business, family visits, or tourism; and from entering a country for study, labour...

Starting tomorrow, the second Eastern Europe and Central Asia AIDS Conference (EECAAC II), the largest AIDS-focused event to date in the region, will bring together a wide range of private and public groups at a critical time in the fight against AIDS.

The governing body of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) met in Chiang Mai from 23-25 April for the 22nd Meeting of the Programme Coordinating Board (PCB).

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS praises U.S. House of Representatives passage of the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde U.S. Global Leadership on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008.

Countries need to craft a new response – calls the Independent Commission on AIDS in Asia New York—Even after two decades, AIDS remains the most likely cause of death and work days lost among 15-44 years-olds in Asia warns the independent Commission on AIDS in Asia.These findings were released today...

World TB Day is an occasion to urge action to stop tuberculosis, a disease which still kills an appalling 4,000 people every day. The man-made multi-drug resistant strain and its even more lethal form, extensively drug-resistant TB, are both spreading.

The World Health Organization (WHO) report, Global

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS commends the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee approval of the “Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde Global Leadership on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008.” The United States leadership role in the global response to AIDS is critical and today’s action...

HIV/AIDS implementers from around the world will gather in Kampala, Uganda from June 3-7 for the 2008 HIV/AIDS Implementers’ Meeting. Recognizing the rapid expansion of HIV/AIDS programs worldwide, the focus of this year’s meeting is building the capacity of local prevention, treatment, and care programs; enhancing quality; and promoting coordination...

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS welcomes the news that the United States House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs has approved the “Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde Global Leadership on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008.”

UNAIDS and OHCHR call for greater protection of the human rights of all persons regardless of sexual orientation or HIV status

El ONUSIDA y el ACNUDH piden que mejore la protección de los derechos humanos de todas las personas, sin distinción de su orientación sexual o su estado serológico respecto del VIH

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS urges all parties concerned, including the media, to understand that HIV infection is a condition that requires appropriate treatment and care.

Following the recent publication of an article on antiretroviral treatment and sexual transmission of HIV in the Swiss medical journal ‘Bulletin des médecins suisses’, UNAIDS and WHO reiterate the importance of a comprehensive approach to HIV prevention including correct and consistent use of condoms.

The Global Health Initiative (GHI) of the World Economic Forum has released the first global report on Business Coalitions – Business Coalitions Tackling AIDS: A Worldwide Review – and the role they play in supporting the private sector to tackle AIDS around the world.

National health ministers, public health leaders and HIV/AIDS experts convene today at the first-ever international conference on task shifting to scale up access to HIV/AIDS treatment and, at the same time, expand the global health workforce.