New study shows results delivered thanks to focused efforts in collaboration with United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief

MBABANE/GENEVA, 24 July 2017—UNAIDS congratulates the Kingdom of Swaziland on the findings of the Swaziland HIV Incidence Measurement Survey (SHIMS 2) announced by Prime Minister Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini today in Mbabane, Swaziland that 73% of the adult population aged 15 years and older are virally suppressed—76% of adult women and 68% of adult men. The survey, part of the Population-based HIV Impact Assessments (PHIA), was conducted with funding from United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

“Swaziland has demonstrated to the world that shared responsibility and global solidarity produces results,” said UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé. “Working together with PEPFAR and partners, Swaziland is saving lives and on track to control the epidemic.”

SHIMS 2 findings on, viral load suppression among adults of 15 years and older of 73% affirms UNAIDS estimates of 68% [54%–77%].  Compared to the 2011 SHIMS1 survey which had a similar design, the survey results suggest that the rate of new HIV infections among adults (ages 18-49 years) has decreased by half from 2.5% in 2011 to 1.4% in 2016 (2.0% for adult women and 0.9% for adult men). This is similar to the decline in incidence among adult ages 15-49 as published by UNAIDS: from 2.5% [2.3%–2.6%] in 2011 to 1.7% [1.4%–2.0%] in 2016.

In 2016, UNAIDS estimated that 220 000 [200 000—230 000] people were living with HIV in Swaziland, and that new HIV infections were reduced from 12 000 [12 000—13 000] in 2011 to 8800 [7300—11 000] in 2016. Prevention of mother to child coverage in Swaziland has been between 90 and 100% since 2011 and was estimated to be 95% [81%–>95%] in 2016. As a result fewer than 1000 children became infected with HIV in Swaziland in 2016. 

“UNAIDS welcomes the Swaziland PHIA results as further affirmation of the validity and accuracy of our modelling estimates.” said Mr Sidibé.

The data from the SHIMS2 are part of the PHIA, funded by PEPFAR and conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and ICAP at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. In addition to the Swaziland survey, similar data from Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe were gathered through critical household surveys, in collaboration with local governmental and non-governmental partners in 2016.

UNAIDS congratulates PEPFAR for their unwavering commitment to the global AIDS response. PEPFAR works with more than 50 countries, to maintain access to life-saving treatment, provide services for orphans and vulnerable children, ensure that the most vulnerable and key populations have access to services to prevent and treat HIV and accelerate progress toward the end of the AIDS epidemic.

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.

PARIS/GENEVA, 25 July 2017—UNAIDS has welcomed the launch of the End AIDS Coalition (EAC) during the 9th International AIDS Conference on HIV Science taking place in Paris, France. The EAC brings together a strong collaboration of leading AIDS experts, scientists, clinicians, policy-makers, faith leaders, business leaders and activists determined to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030.

The EAC aims to amplify efforts to end the AIDS epidemic by strengthening linkages across research, resources and implementation, by encouraging the aggregation and analysis of data from the global AIDS response to identify barriers and encourage efficiencies and by inspiring a movement to mobilize and engage the next generation of young leaders in the response to HIV.

The founder of the End AIDS Coalition is the American fashion designer and amfAR chair, Kenneth Cole, who is also a UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador. Speaking at the launch, Mr Cole said the world was at a tipping point in the response to the HIV epidemic and stressed the need for all actors to join together to gain control of the epidemic before the window of opportunity closed.   

The launch of the new coalition comes shortly after a new UNAIDS report, Ending AIDS: progress towards the 90-90-90 targets, showed that more than half of all people living with HIV now have access to HIV treatment and that AIDS-related deaths have almost halved since 2005. But the report also underlined the scale of the task ahead, with new HIV infections also declining but not at the pace needed to meet global targets.

The report emphasized the need to invest in new ways of delivering HIV treatment and prevention services to people and places most in need.

“Innovation and research are critical and must be the cornerstone of our efforts,” said UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé. “We cannot lose our sense of urgency. Without collaboration and investment in innovation, we will never be able to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.” 

As well as calling for wider access to HIV treatment and prevention options, the EAC will also advocate for continued and sustained efforts to discover a vaccine and a cure.     

Also present at the launch of the EAC were the Minister of Health, Botswana, Dorcas Makgato, United States Global AIDS Coordinator, Ambassador Deborah Birx, the Associate Scientific Director of the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), Quarraisha Abdool Karim, the Interim Executive Director of the Global Fund, Marijke Wijnroks and Ambassador of the Elizabeth Glaser Paediatric AIDS Foundation, Jake Glaser. 

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, ADDIS ABABA, 3 July 2017—African heads of state have endorsed two major new initiatives to help end AIDS by 2030. The community health workers initiative aims to recruit, train and deploy 2 million community health workers across Africa by 2020. The western and central Africa catch-up plan aims to rapidly accelerate access to HIV treatment in the region and close the gap in access between African regions. The initiatives were endorsed at the AIDS Watch Africa Heads of State and Government Meeting, held on 3 July during the 29th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Western and central Africa catch-up plan

Under the leadership of countries and regional economic communities, and in collaboration with UNAIDS, the World Health Organization, Doctors Without Borders and other partners, the catch-up plan in western and central Africa, which started implementation in late 2016, seeks to dramatically accelerate the scale-up of HIV testing, prevention and treatment programmes, with the goal of putting the region on the Fast-Track to meet the 90–90–90 targets by December 2020.

While the world witnesses significant progress in responding to HIV, with 57% of all people living with HIV knowing their HIV status, 46% of all people living with HIV accessing treatment and 38% of all people living with HIV virally suppressed in 2015, the western and central Africa region lags behind, achieving only 36%, 28% and 12%, respectively, in 2015. The gap is considerable: 4.7 million people living with HIV are not receiving treatment, and 330 000 adults and children died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2015.

“We cannot accept a two-speed approach to ending AIDS in Africa,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. “To put western and central Africa on track to end AIDS, we must address stigma, discrimination and other challenges to an effective response, allocate funding to support the most effective strategies and implement delivery strategies that reach the communities most in need.”

The catch-up plan will aim to increase the number of people on treatment from 1.8 million to 2.9 million by mid-2018, giving an additional 1.2 million people, including 120 000 children, access to urgently needed treatment.

The first call for a catch-up plan for the region was made at the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS in June 2016. Since then, at least 10 countries (Benin, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone) have developed country operational plans deriving from the western and central Africa catch-up plan with a focus on ensuring the needed policy and structural changes.

Two million community health workers

The community health worker initiative aims to accelerate progress towards achieving the 90–90–90 targets by 2020—whereby 90% of all people living with HIV know their HIV status, 90% of people who know their HIV-positive status are accessing treatment and 90% of people on treatment have suppressed viral loads—and to lay the foundation for sustainable health systems. Championed by the President of Guinea and African Union Chair, Alpha Condé, the initiative seeks to confront the acute health workforce shortages across Africa and improve access to health services for the most marginalized populations, including people living in rural areas.

“Recruiting 2 million community health workers is a critical step towards achievement of the Africa-wide socioeconomic transformation envisioned in the African Union’s Agenda 63”, said Mr Condé. “Few tools have the ability of community health workers to drive progress across the entire breadth of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

Substantial evidence, from both Africa and elsewhere, demonstrates that well-trained, properly supervised community health workers provide an excellent quality of care and improve the efficiency and impact of health spending. Community health workers have helped devise some of the most effective service delivery strategies for HIV testing and treatment, and studies have also linked community-delivered services with increased rates of immunization, exclusive breastfeeding and malaria control coverage.

“Sustainable community health work is a matter of survival and development in Ethiopia, said Prime Minister of Ethiopia Hailemariam Desalegn. “My community health workers have made better health happen. Achieving universal health coverage is not possible without building community health systems.”

UNAIDS estimates that there are more than 1 million community health workers in Africa today, but most focus on a single health problem and are under-trained, unpaid or under-paid, and not well integrated in health systems. The new initiative endorsed by AIDS Watch Africa seeks to retrain existing community health workers, where feasible, and to recruit new health workers to reach the 2 million target.

“Few investments generate such a remarkable social and economic return as community health workers,” said Jeffrey Sachs, Director, Earth Institute, Columbia University. “Community health worker programmes are essentially self-sustaining, in that they avert illness, keep workers healthy and productive and contribute to economic growth and opportunity.”

While community health workers may hold the key in many settings to achieving the 90–90–90 targets, the benefits of this new initiative extend well beyond the AIDS response. The initiative will expedite gains across the health targets of Sustainable Development Goal 3, create new jobs that will strengthen local and national economies and offer new opportunities to young people. The new initiative is aligned with the World Health Organization’s Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health.

Start Free, Stay Free, AIDS Free

At the AIDS Watch Africa meeting, the participants also called on member states and development partners to support the African Union campaign to eliminate new HIV infections among children and keep mothers alive as part of the Start Free, Stay Free, AIDS Free collaborative framework.

“Complacency gives birth to regression of the gains made in reducing HIV prevalence, said, Yoweri Museveni, President of Uganda. “We in Uganda have rekindled the campaign to end AIDS; the science exists, as well as the medication. We can win this battle.”

AIDS Watch Africa is a statutory entity of the African Union with the specific mandate to lead advocacy, accountability and resource mobilization efforts to advance a robust African response to end AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria by 2030.

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, 11 July 2017—UNAIDS is deeply saddened by the death of Prudence Mabele. Her contribution to the AIDS response began in the early 1990s during her work with the Society of Women and AIDS in Africa. Ms Mabele was more recently the President for the Society of Women Living with HIV and the Deputy Chair of the Civil Society Forum in the South African National AIDS Council. Ms Mabele was tireless in her efforts to amplify the voice of African women living with HIV in regional and global forums.

“Prudence Mabele was a global icon, and an example of living positively with HIV. I cannot think of the AIDS response in South Africa and imagine it without her,” said Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director.

In 1992, Ms Mabele became one of the first women living with HIV in South Africa to disclose her status. Ms Mabele said she disclosed her status because she was tired of the silence and stigma surrounding HIV. She wanted to set a precedent and encourage other women living with HIV to discuss their status with loved ones, to live without shame, to seek treatment and to lead happy and fulfilled lives.

Ms Mabele championed the cause of the greater involvement of people living with HIV. At a time when treatment was just beginning to be available, she was a driving force in addressing issues around stigma and discrimination. Ms Mabele was passionate about the need to organize and support women living with HIV.

She was also a founding member of the Treatment Action Campaign, founder and Executive Director of the Positive Women’s Network (PWN) and a founding member of the Pan African Positive Women’s Network. PWN set out to improve the quality of life of people living with HIV, providing a support network and platform for women to articulate their feelings and needs regarding their HIV status and ultimately to design positive projects for themselves.

Ms Mabele had been a very close friend of UNAIDS for a long time. Ms Mabele collaborated with UNAIDS in raising awareness about women living with HIV and their needs, and graced the cover the UNAIDS flagship publication OUTLOOK. She previously worked as a staff member with the UNAIDS South Africa Country Office and continued to be closely associated with UNAIDS over the years.

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, 3 July 2017—Ghana has pledged US$ 200 000 to support the work of UNAIDS. The pledge was made at the close of the 40th meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB), which was held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 27 to 29 June 2017.

Speaking in his role as Chair of the PCB for 2017, the Minister of Health of Ghana, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, said, “Through our pledge we demonstrate our willingness to contribute to the fight against the disease.”

The contribution makes Ghana one of the leading African donors to UNAIDS and follows recent commitments on funding for UNAIDS by other African countries. On becoming the Chair of the PCB earlier in 2017, Mr Agyeman-Manu stressed that Ghana would work closely with UNAIDS to achieve the collective goal of ending AIDS by 2030.

The Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé thanked Ghana for its pledge. “Ghana’s pledge of US$ 200 000 for UNAIDS is another example of Africa increasing its investment in the AIDS response,” he said. “Shared responsibility is vital if the world is to meet its commitments to ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030,” he added.

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, 5 June 2017—UNAIDS mourns the sudden passing away of the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Babatunde Osotimehin. A renowned global public health leader, Dr Osotimehin was widely regarded for his work on sexual and reproductive health, as well as his work on HIV.

“Babatunde Osotimehin will be remembered for improving the lives of women and young people and promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights,” said Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director. “Young people have lost a champion today.”

As Executive Director of UNFPA, Dr Osotimehin led the organization’s efforts on HIV prevention, especially among adolescents and young adults, promoting condoms and ensuring that women and adolescent girls receive HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health services. He also led Nigeria’s AIDS response as Minister of Health and as the Director General of Nigeria’s National Agency for the Control of HIV and AIDS.

“I have lost a brother, a valued long-time family friend,” said Mr Sidibé. “The UNAIDS family commits to carry forward the legacy of Babatunde.”

UNFPA is one of UNAIDS’ 11 Cosponsors advancing the response to HIV. 

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, 1 June 2017—United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Jan Beagle as the next Under-Secretary-General for Management.

“Jan Beagle is a leader who gets results for people,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “She will deliver on the Secretary-General’s vision for a more effective and strengthened United Nations. Her commitment to leaving no one behind and advocacy for gender parity are matched by her drive to ensure that the United Nations is best placed to serve the people of the world.”

Ms Beagle was appointed Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS in 2009. She led UNAIDS’ work in promoting effective governance of the Joint Programme and provided strategic direction to overarching management functions—in the areas of human resources, finance, budget, information technology and administration—enhancing UNAIDS’ capacity to implement its mandate and vision. She has been instrumental in ensuring UNAIDS is best positioned to deliver the Fast-Track agenda to end the AIDS epidemic as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. 

She has been a member of, and chaired, a number of United Nations system inter-agency bodies, including the Human Resources Network, the High-Level Committee on Management, and the United Nations Development Group Assistant-Secretary-General Advisory Group. Ms Beagle is an International Gender Champion and Co-Chair of the Champions Working Group on Change Management.

“On a personal note, I will miss you, your good humour and sound advice,” added Mr Sidibé. “Everyone from your UNAIDS family wishes you the best in your new role and we will continue to count on your commitment to ending AIDS.” 

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, 23 May 2017—UNAIDS warmly welcomes the appointment of Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). The announcement was made during an appointment ceremony that took place after WHO Member States cast their final votes at a closed session during the 70th World Health Assembly.

“Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is a driving force for change with vast experience and expertise in global health,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “He is a dynamic leader, an excellent convener and shares our ambition to end AIDS as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. I look forward to working closely with him to achieve our goals.”

In an interview with UNAIDS, Mr Tedros said that lessons learned in the AIDS response have been critical to shaping the future of global health. He said that the creativity, commitment and multisectorality of the AIDS response will be needed to place universal health coverage at the centre of the implementation of all Sustainable Development Goals.

Mr Tedros is currently a Special Adviser to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. He has 30 years of experience in health leadership, politics and diplomacy, during which he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Health of Ethiopia. He will take up his new position on 1 July 2017, taking over from Margaret Chan, who served as the Director-General of WHO for 10 years.

WHO is one of UNAIDS’ 11 Cosponsors advancing the response to HIV. UNAIDS will work closely with the new Director-General of WHO to advance progress in global health and end the AIDS epidemic as part of the Sustainable Development Goals.

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, 18 May 2017—On the 20th HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, UNAIDS is calling for continued research to find a vaccine for HIV. Although there have been significant discoveries in the field of vaccine research and development, there is still no effective vaccine available against HIV.

New HIV infections have remained stubbornly high for the past 10 years. Every year, 1.9 million adults and more than 150 000 children become infected with the virus. Even if a 90% reduction in new HIV infections is achieved by 2030, there will still be around 200 000 new HIV infections annually, demonstrating how essential a vaccine will be for the long-term control of HIV.

“Despite our major successes in scaling up treatment and ongoing prevention programmes, there are still large numbers of people becoming infected with HIV every year,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “The biggest impacts in the eradication or control of infectious diseases in the history of public health have been achieved through vaccination, which is why a vaccine is an objective well worth continuing to invest in.”

Successful antiretroviral therapy requires lifelong adherence, but adherence relies on behaviour change, which can be difficult to maintain. In contrast, an HIV vaccine is a one-time intervention that is extremely cost-effective compared with the cost of lifelong treatment.

A simple-to-use vaccine would be a key tool in reaching the populations most affected by HIV. Models estimate that even a modestly effective vaccine—one that is 50% effective—would have a big impact on the epidemic and may be enough to significantly reduce new HIV infections among key populations.

Industry is helping to take on the challenge of vaccine development. Vaccine candidates are in company pipelines, with some trials starting soon and others during the next few years.

A large vaccine trial, HVTN 702, is in progress in South Africa, with results due in three years. That trial, part of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network, builds on the RV144 trial, which reported in 2009 and was conducted in Thailand, showing a 31% efficacy.

This year, UNAIDS is hosting an art installation on the power of vaccines, reflecting the importance of linking art, advocacy and science. The exhibition, entitled Immune Nations, opens on 23 May and runs until 30 June 2017.

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, 17 May 2017—UNAIDS’ vision of zero discrimination and ending AIDS by 2030 will only become a reality if the response to HIV reaches everyone, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people.

The International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOT), a worldwide celebration of sexual and gender diversity, is commemorated annually on 17 May. This year’s theme is families, focusing on the role of families in the well-being of LGBTI people and respect of the rights of LGBTI families.

“Many young gay and transgender people are rejected by their families, living on the streets, facing all types of discrimination and violence,” said the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé. “This is not the path to healthy and productive societies. We must encourage inclusion and compassion and ensure that networks of support are in place, including access to essential health and social services.”

Gay men and other men who have sex with men are 24 times more likely to acquire HIV than other men and transgender people are 49 times more likely. However, in many health-care settings, LGBTI people find it difficult to access quality health services free from discrimination, making them more vulnerable to HIV and less likely to access treatment and care.

Under international human rights law, countries have a legal obligation to address discrimination in health and in the workplace. In 2016, UNAIDS launched an Agenda for Zero Discrimination in Health-Care Settings, which brings together all stakeholders for joint efforts towards a world where everyone, everywhere, is able to receive the health care they need with no discrimination.

UNAIDS is calling for respect for diversity and zero discrimination. To end AIDS it is essential to end the stigma and discrimination faced by LGBTI people.

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.