Media Advisory

UNAIDS will launch a new report, The Urgency of Now: AIDS at a Crossroads just ahead of the 25^th International AIDS Conference #AIDS2024 in Munich, Germany. The report will demonstrate that ending AIDS as a public health threat is achievable by 2030 but that success is being threatened by pushes to reduce funding and to restrict human rights.

The HIV response is at a crossroads: success or failure will be determined by which path leaders take. The report will show that the decisions leaders make this year will determine whether AIDS is ended as a public health threat by 2030. Taking the wrong path, by limiting resourcing or clamping down on human rights, would lead the pandemic to continue to grow, costing millions more lives and undermining global health security.

The global launch will feature ministers, health experts and activists from around the world.

It will be directly followed by a special briefing on Eastern Europe and Central Asia, a region that is a focus of this year’s AIDS conference and where political and financial challenges have brought the HIV response dangerously off track.
 

EVENT            Press launch of UNAIDS Global AIDS Update – The Urgency of Now: AIDS at a Crossroads

TIME/DATE     10:00–11:00 CET Monday, 22 July 2024 - followed by a special focus on Eastern Europe and Central Asia 11:05 – 12:00

WHERE            Central Munich, Germany

SPEAKERS   

• Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations
• Dr. Sabine Dittmar, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Health, Germany
• Archbishop Dr Thabo Makgoba, South Africa
• Dr. Sharon Lewin, President, International AIDS Society
• Freidel Dausab, Namibian activist who successfully challenged the anti-homosexuality law and had it struck down by the High Court
• Other speakers to be confirmed

REGISTER      To attend in person (MEDIA ONLY) please email bartonknotts@unaids.org

VIRTUAL      Both events will be livestreamed on YouTube, follow virtually at www.youtube.com/live/RlQyDl_G1Mk

SPECIAL FOCUS: Eastern Europe and Central Asia 11:05 – 12:00

SPEAKERS

• Eamonn Murphy, UNAIDS Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Asia-Pacific region 
• Anahit Avanesyan, Minister of Health of Armenia 
• Vera Brezhneva, UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador for Eastern Europe and Central Asia
• Ganna Dovbakh, Eurasian Harm Reduction Association 
• Elena Rostokina, President of Association Answer-Kazakhstan, representing women affected by HIV
• Moderator: Armen Aghajanov, Activist, EECA 

To register for the press conference in person, set up embargoed interviews or for more information please contact:

UNAIDS | Sophie Barton-Knott | +41 79 514 68 96 | bartonknotts@unaids.org

UNAIDS Communications  | communications@unaids.org

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.