World AIDS Day 2020 will be like no other.

COVID-19 is threatening the progress that the world has made in health and development over the past 20 years, including the gains we have made against HIV.

Like all epidemics, it is widening the inequalities that already existed.

Gender inequality, racial inequality, social and economic inequalities. We are becoming a more unequal world.

I am proud that over the past year the HIV movement has mobilized to defend our progress, to protect people living with HIV and other vulnerable groups and to push the coronavirus back.

Whether campaigning for multimonth dispensing of HIV treatment, organizing home deliveries of medicines or providing financial assistance, food and shelter to at-risk groups, HIV activists and affected communities have again shown they are the mainstay of the HIV response. I salute you!

It is the strength within communities, inspired by a shared responsibility to each other, that has contributed in great part to our victories over HIV.

Today, we need that strength more than ever to beat the colliding epidemics of HIV and COVID-19.

Friends, in responding to COVID-19, the world cannot make the same mistakes it made in the fight against HIV, when millions in developing countries died waiting for treatment.

Even today, more than 12 million people are still waiting to get on HIV treatment and 1.7 million people became infected with HIV in 2019 because they could not access essential services.

That is why UNAIDS has been a leading advocate for a People’s Vaccine against the coronavirus.

Global problems need global solidarity.

As the first COVID-19 vaccine candidates have proven effective and safe, there is hope that more will follow, but there are serious threats to ensuring equitable access. We are calling on companies to openly share their technology and know-how and to wave their intellectual property rights so that the world can produce the successful vaccines at the huge scale and speed required to protect everyone and so that we can get the global economy back on track.

Our goal of ending the AIDS epidemic was already off track before COVID-19. We must put people first to get the AIDS response back on track. We must end the social injustices that put people at risk of contracting HIV. And we must fight for the right to health. There is no excuse for governments to not invest fully for universal access to health. Barriers such as up-front user fees that lock people out of health must come down.

Women and girls must have their human rights fully respected, and the criminalization and marginalization of gay men, transgender people, sex workers and people who use drugs must stop.

As we approach the end of 2020, the world is in a dangerous place and the months ahead will not be easy.

Only global solidarity and shared responsibility will help us beat the coronavirus, end the AIDS epidemic and guarantee the right to health for all.

Thank you.

Winnie Byanyima

Executive Director of UNAIDS

Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations

World AIDS Day 2020 playlist

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.

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.

GENEVA, 10 November 2020—UNAIDS congratulates President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on the recent election results in the United States of America.

“UNAIDS looks forward to working with the new United States administration on the challenge of ending AIDS, for which there is still no vaccine and no cure,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “The colliding pandemics of COVID-19 and HIV are evidence that global solidarity and shared responsibility is needed now more than ever before to ensure that no one is left behind and that medicines, services and solutions can be accessed equitably.”

In 2019, around 1.7 million people became infected with HIV and 690 000 people died of AIDS-related illnesses. UNAIDS and the United States Government have collaborated closely since the inception of UNAIDS in 1996, to accelerate progress towards global HIV prevention and treatment targets in the countries most affected by HIV.

Through the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the United States Government has invested more than US$ 85 billion in the global response to HIV, the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease. Strong bipartisan support for investments to end AIDS across successive administrations and effective, data-driven and evidence-informed HIV programming through PEPFAR and investments to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, have enabled millions of men, women and children to live longer, healthier lives.

To ensure continued success towards ending AIDS, concerted, strategic efforts in the months and years ahead will be needed, especially at a moment when COVID-19 threatens the health of people all around the world. To end these dual pandemics UNAIDS looks forward to continuing to work closely with the United States for a safer, healthier world.

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.

GENEVA, 9 November 2020—UNAIDS is strongly encouraged by new study results showing that the antiretroviral medicine cabotegravir, which is administered by injection every two months, prevents HIV among women. The study shows that the long-acting injections among women in sub-Saharan Africa were 89% more efficient in preventing HIV compared to daily tablets of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

“These results are hugely significant. UNAIDS has long been calling for additional, acceptable and effective HIV prevention options for women, and this could be a real game-changer,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “If donors and countries invest in rolling out access of injectable PrEP to women at higher risk of HIV, new infections could be dramatically reduced.”

The trial enrolled over 3200 women aged between 18 and 45 years who were at higher risk of acquiring HIV in Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Eswatini, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The trial was halted early on the recommendation of the Data and Safety Monitoring Board due to clear statistical evidence showing that the injectable medicine is more effective than a daily pill.

Four HIV infections occurred among women randomly assigned to the cabotegravir injectable arm of the study, compared to 34 infections in the arm that was randomly assigned to daily oral PrEP. The risk of HIV was ninefold lower with cabotegravir injections than with daily oral PrEP.

The study results are important and timely as more methods to prevent HIV among women at higher risk of HIV are urgently needed, including methods that do not depend on daily or near-daily pill-taking, condom use or abstention from sex. The development of alternative methods to prevent HIV, and more adherence-friendly schedules than are currently available, will increase the HIV prevention choices and acceptability for women and reduce new HIV infections.

“UNAIDS congratulates everyone involved in this landmark study,” said Ms Byanyima. “Like with a COVID-19 vaccine, we now must work to ensure that these life-changing injections are accessible, affordable and equitably distributed to people who choose to use them.”

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.

GENEVA, 15 October 2020—Today, the World Trade Organization’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Council meets to consider a proposal presented by the Governments of South Africa and India for a temporary waiver of certain TRIPS obligations in order to facilitate an appropriate response to COVID-19. The aim is to create certainty and clarity, guaranteeing freedom to operate, innovate, procure and scale up manufacturing capacities in essential health technologies at the required scale. The waiver would reduce transaction costs and eliminate key barriers across the research and development cycle and the supply chain for the access and delivery of health technologies to prevent, diagnose and treat COVID-19.

“UNAIDS fully supports this proposal, which reflects the urgency and global health emergency that COVID-19 represents,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Its adoption will enable countries to work together to establish national and multilateral strategies to promote innovation of, and access to, medicines, diagnostics, vaccines and other health technologies.”

Global solidarity and shared responsibility have been recognized as fundamental principles that guide the United Nations system response. There is a growing consensus that universal access to health care, and to COVID-19 health technologies, must be a global public good.

In response to the colliding pandemics of COVID-19 and HIV, UNAIDS has adopted a multisectoral and people-centred approach in order to protect the gains for people living with and affected by HIV and to drive progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. The AIDS community knows that in order to tackle public health threats a focus on inequality is essential, including inequalities in access to solutions, whether vaccines, diagnostics or therapeutics.

“We cannot repeat the painful lessons from the early years of the AIDS response, when people in wealthier countries got back to health, while millions of people in developing countries were left behind,” Ms Byanyima added. “If we continue with business as usual we will fail in delivering fair access to COVID-19 treatments for all those in need. Yet fair access is the human right of everyone, no matter the colour of their skin, the money in their pocket or the country they live in.”

A range of solutions will be needed in order to ensure equal access and to unlock supply. UNAIDS calls for support for the multilateral solutions that are on the table and for collaboration through fostering the transfer of technology and mass-producing health products, using a public health lens.

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.

GENEVA, 9 October 2020—UNAIDS sends its heartfelt congratulations to the World Food Programme (WFP) for being awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize. WFP’s efforts to ensure food security for all, particularly the most vulnerable women, men and children, including people living with HIV, have saved countless lives and prevented hunger and starvation in countries all around the world.

“We are so proud of WFP’s achievement and are honoured to have WFP as one of our Cosponsors, working with us to end AIDS,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “We will continue to work closely together to achieve our shared goals of zero hunger, zero new HIV infections, zero AIDS-related deaths and zero discrimination for all.”

For people living with HIV, food and nutrition are critical components of care and support. WFP’s work on HIV includes nutritional recovery for malnourished people living with HIV, support at the individual and household levels, supplying food, cash and vouchers, and linking food and health systems. As part of its HIV and tuberculosis programmes in 29 countries, WFP also links clients with social protection programmes and livelihood strengthening activities in order to ensure that health gains can be sustained in the long term, as people living with HIV need to stay on treatment for life.

WFP’s efforts have improved the lives of people living with and affected by HIV and have advanced access and adherence to HIV treatment. UNAIDS thanks WFP for its work and collaboration and congratulates WFP on its well-merited achievement of being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Additional information on WFP’s work on HIV is available here.

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.

GENEVA, 8 September 2020—UNAIDS is deeply saddened by the death of our dear friend and former colleague Achmat Dangor. Mr Dangor was an acclaimed author and leading activist who dedicated his life to social justice and the struggle for liberation and democracy in South Africa.

He was a prominent voice in the response to AIDS at a time when AIDS denial was widespread, speaking out and writing about the spread of HIV and the impact that the AIDS epidemic was having in South Africa. He expanded his work on HIV when he joined the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund as Chief Executive and when he became the Interim Director of the World AIDS Campaign. In 2004, he joined UNAIDS as the Director of Advocacy, Communication and Leadership, designing campaigns and strategies to put HIV at the very top of political agendas.

“Achmat Dangor was an activist who brought together leaders from all walks of life to make a difference for people—for women, children, the marginalized and people living with HIV,” said Mahesh Mahalingam, Director of Communications and Global Advocacy, UNAIDS. “He combined human rights, compassion and kindness to make a unique impression on the AIDS response.”

Mr Dangor promoted social justice throughout his life. In the 1970s, he started a writers’ group called Black Thoughts, a collective established to promote African writers and black culture and to correct the cultural distortions being imposed by apartheid. In the 1980s, he co-founded the Congress of South African Writers, a grass-roots organization established to promote literature and redress the imbalances of apartheid education.

Mr Dangor served as the Chief Executive of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Nelson Mandela when he stepped down as the President of South Africa in 1999, where he helped to establish Nelson Mandela Day, 18 July, to honour the legacy of Nelson Mandela through volunteering and community service. He was also the founding Executive Director of the Kagiso Trust, the largest black-led foundation in South Africa, and the South African representative of the Ford Foundation, a non-profit organization providing grants and investments to reduce poverty and injustice. 

Mr Dangor taught creative writing and South African literature at New York State University and published a number of critically acclaimed works of fiction and poetry, including Bitter Fruit, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and Kafka’s Curse, for which he received the Herman Charles Bosman Prize.

UNAIDS expresses its heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Mr Dangor.

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.

As the Japanese Prime Minister steps down, UNAIDS recognizes Shinzo Abe’s contribution to global health, notably to universal health coverage

GENEVA, 1 September 2020—UNAIDS commends Shinzo Abe for his significant contribution to global health during his tenure as Prime Minister of Japan. Japan has been a longstanding partner of UNAIDS and is one of the leading investors in the AIDS response. Under Mr Abe’s leadership, Japan has supported programmes focused on key populations across Asia and has invested in projects such as the Kenya HIV Situation Room, which is using cutting-edge technology to provide high-quality data about Kenya’s HIV epidemic.

Upon Mr Abe’s appointment as Prime Minister in 2012, Japan was already a prominent voice in global health and development, having introduced the issue of infectious diseases to discussions at the Group of Eight Kyushu-Okinawa summit in 2000. Those discussions contributed to the creation of the most important public–private mechanism for financing the AIDS response, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Building on Japan’s engagement in health and development, Mr Abe launched Japan’s Strategy on Global Health Diplomacy in 2013. The strategy focused on promoting universal health coverage and mobilizing Japan’s knowledge and expertise to contribute to realizing a world where everyone has access to basic health-care services at an affordable cost.

It was thanks to the leadership of Angela Merkel and Mr Abe that universal health coverage was on the agenda of the Group of Seven summit in 2016. Japan also hosted the Group of Twenty summit in Osaka in 2019, where the first joint Group of Twenty finance and health ministers meeting was held to discuss sustainable health financing to achieve universal health coverage.

Mr Abe was also a strong voice at TICAD (the Tokyo International Conference of African Development), promoting development, peace and security in Africa through the strengthening of relations in multilateral cooperation, under the principles of African ownership and international partnership.

UNAIDS wishes to thank Mr Abe for his commitment and leadership in global health and development and wishes him good health and the very best for the future.

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.

GENEVA, 19 August 2020—Today, on World Humanitarian Day, UNAIDS acknowledges and celebrates the power of communities – the individuals and groups who work together to make a difference to themselves and to each other—the #RealLifeHeroes.  

UNAIDS knows that people are stronger together and that communities have always been a cornerstone of the response to HIV. Heroes stand up to ensure they and their families, partners and friends can access HIV testing, treatment, and care services. They stand up to counter stigma and discrimination. They demand respect and engagement in decisions that affect their lives.

Humanitarian and fragile settings are unstable, unpredictable and volatile places. Conflict, disaster, and displacement deplete health services, isolate communities and increase vulnerabilities –increasing the numbers at risk of being left behind. Moreover, as we have seen with COVID-19, every setting can be fragile in the face of new or sudden challenges. As COVID-19 has spread across the globe, humanitarians are being joined by health workers, key workers and others who risk themselves and their families to help others.

Community-led organizations are providing a lifeline to underserved, marginalized and hard-to-reach populations around the world. They have a depth of experience in creating and delivering responses to health and human rights crises within their communities. The many community-led networks and groups that emerged to respond to HIV possess immense practical experience, organizational strength and capacities to facilitate the delivery of life-saving support, and for influencing people’s real-life practices to better protect their health.

And new heroes are emerging too. Some are helping to maintain access to lifesaving HIV treatment. Others are supporting the most vulnerable members of society to survive lockdown and other impacts of the pandemic, and to protect those at risk of violence.

UNAIDS salutes all of these #RealLifeHeroes and the communities who stand beside and around them on the front line, building grassroots resilience so that no one is left behind in the aim for universal health coverage, including free and fair access to HIV-related services.

UNAIDS commits to building a culture of solidarity, trust, kindness and an ethic of care – not only in our response to COVID-19, but across all humanitarian settings. We have seen how many individuals have put their hands in their own pockets to help their families, neighbours and peers, and we call on continued funding for community organizations.

UNAIDS pledges to continue to support and advocate for those working to end suffering and injustice, to promote peace and sustain human rights.

Not just today, but every day.

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.

GENEVA, 14 August 2020—UNAIDS is deeply concerned by reports of the targeting and arrest of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights activists as they peacefully exercise their rights to freedom of expression and association, as well as reports of discrimination, repression, and scapegoating of LGBTI people.

UNAIDS has been made aware that on August 7 a protest against the detention of LGBTI activist, Margot Szutowicz, currently being held for two months of pre-trial detention, resulted in reports of police violence and over 50 arrests. This followed recent arrests of activists for placing rainbow flags on public monuments, ostensibly carried out under Article 196 of Poland’s criminal code, which calls for up to two years in prison for anyone who “offends the religious feelings of others by publicly insulting a religious object or place of worship.”

International and European human rights bodies have affirmed the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. They have also affirmed the fundamental right to be free from discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation or gender identity.

The 2016 United Nations General Assembly High-Level Political Declaration on Ending AIDS recognizes that discrimination, particularly discriminatory and abusive use of law enforcement powers, create significant barriers to people’s health and well-being, including their access to HIV prevention, treatment and care services, barriers that governments have committed to removing. Stigma and discrimination have been shown to increase violence, abuse and harassment against LGBTI people and to cause significant harm to their physical and mental health and well-being, their inclusion in society and their ability to access work, education and essential services.

The actions in Poland limit freedom of speech and, when combined with discriminatory application that targets human rights defenders, undermine equality, the rule of law and people’s access to essential services. In the context of closing civic space for advocacy to end discrimination in areas such as LGBTI rights, sexual and reproductive health and gender equality, freedom of speech protections are more vital than ever.

UNAIDS is concerned by the ongoing and intensifying persecution of LGBTI people in Poland, including the encouragement of so-called “LGBT ideology-free zones” throughout the country over the last year and up to recent mounting crackdowns on human rights defenders exercising their fundamental human rights to advocate for an end to discrimination.

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.