UNAIDS welcomes the appointment by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of Eric Goosby as his Special Envoy on Tuberculosis. Dr Goosby will work on increasing efforts to end tuberculosis (TB) by keeping TB high on the global political and development agenda.

“I congratulate Dr Goosby and look forward to working with him in his new role as Special Envoy on Tuberculosis,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Dr Goosby’s knowledge and experience working on HIV and TB, together with his dynamic and committed leadership, will further strengthen our collaboration and bring us closer to ending the dual epidemics of HIV and TB.”

TB and HIV are inextricably linked. In 2012, people living with HIV accounted for 1.1 million (13%) of the estimated 8.7 million people who developed TB globally. TB remains a leading cause of death among people living with HIV. In 2013, 360 000 people living with HIV died of TB, a disease which is both preventable and curable.

Dr Goosby has led the United States of America’s global HIV efforts since 2009 when he was appointed as Ambassador-at-Large by President Barack Obama. Under his leadership, the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) significantly developed its HIV programmes around the world, supporting millions of people living with and affected by HIV, many of whom were also living with TB.

UNAIDS has worked closely with Dr Goosby. In 2011, UNAIDS partnered with Dr Goosby and PEPFAR to spearhead the Global Plan towards the elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive. Between 2009 and 2013, new HIV infections among children in the 21 Global Plan priority countries fell by 43%.

UNAIDS and Dr Goosby have also worked closely together on increasing country ownership of health responses as well as on efforts to strengthen health systems. A strong partnership with countries as they lead their response will continue to galvanize the global HIV and TB response.

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.

An epidemiological investigation into the recently diagnosed HIV cases is under way.

GENEVA, 19 December 2014—UNAIDS expresses its support for the people reported to have been affected by the recent HIV diagnoses in Battambang Province, Cambodia. UNAIDS is joining partners in supporting Cambodia’s Ministry of Health as it conducts a full epidemiological investigation and takes all necessary measures to prevent further HIV infections.

UNAIDS is working with the authorities to ensure that anyone who may have been affected has access to essential HIV treatment, care and support services. UNAIDS is also working with the ministry to ensure that the rights and privacy of all people are upheld. It is essential that people living with HIV live with dignity and without fear of stigma and discrimination. 

In Cambodia, voluntary and confidential HIV testing and counselling are widely available free of charge and people living with HIV have access to free antiretroviral therapy across the country.

From having one of the most serious HIV epidemics in Asia in the mid-1990s, Cambodia has continued to make progress. New HIV infections have dropped by 67%, from 3900 in 2005 to 1300 in 2013. More than two thirds of the 75 000 people living with HIV are accessing antiretroviral therapy, which is the highest percentage of treatment access in the region.

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 to maximize results for the AIDS response. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Today on World AIDS Day 2014 we ask you to join us and speak out in solidarity with people living with and affected by HIV.

We have come such a long way—today new HIV infections are declining, better and simpler treatment is now available and people living with HIV are now living longer and healthier lives.

But significant challenges remain and we need to fast-track change.

We must close the gap between people who have access to HIV prevention and treatment and people who do not. We must close the gap between people with opportunities and people who are being left behind.

We want more results

We want to end the AIDS epidemic

We know that together we can do it

We are seeing remarkable progress, but we are not there yet

Gender inequalities, violations of human rights and even our own attitudes can leave people behind. People most affected by HIV often don’t have access to the HIV services they need. Stigma and discrimination drive people underground and away from lifesaving HIV prevention and treatment.

HIV is about people, communities and humanity. To end the AIDS epidemic we need change. We need to transform attitudes, improve health systems and respect human rights.

This is not a time to step back. This is the time to innovate, to close the gap and to make sure that everyone, everywhere has access to live-saving HIV services.

Support the work of UNAIDS

Annie Lennox, OBE

Naomi Watts

Michael Ballack

David Luiz

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

Victoria Beckham

Myung-bo Hong

HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway

Toumani Diabaté

HSH Princess Stéphanie of Monaco

25 November 2014

Michel Sidibé
Executive Director of UNAIDS
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations

As we unite against gender-based violence, I dedicate this message to every woman and every child who has experienced violence.

One in three women experience some form of gender-based violence in their lives—and around 120 million girls are sexually assaulted or raped before they reach the age of 20.

Violence often exists in near total impunity hidden behind a notion of cultural values.

The link between violence and HIV is irrefutable.

For women living with HIV, violence in the form of forced sterilization is a fundamental human rights violation.

I commend the decision of the Namibian Supreme Court, which upheld the earlier verdict that the rights of three women living with HIV had been violated when they were forcibly sterilized.

We can never be silent. We can never be neutral. We can never tolerate violence against women and girls.

To end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 we must eliminate all forms of violence against women.

GENEVA, 18 November 2014—UNAIDS welcomes the recent ruling by the High Court of Botswana upholding the right of an organization that supports lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people to register in the country.

In its groundbreaking judgement, the court held that the refusal by the government in 2012 to register the organization known as LEGABIBO (Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana) violates the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association protected by the country’s constitution. The ruling represents the first time a high jurisdiction in Africa has upheld the freedom of assembly and association for LGBTI people.

“Through the courage of civil society organizations and the boldness of its judiciary, Botswana is sending an important message of inclusiveness and freedom,” said Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director.

A valuable lesson learned in over 30 years of the HIV response is that civil society, particularly organizations of people living with and vulnerable to HIV, is essential to advancing health, dignity and development.

While Botswana has sharply increased access to antiretroviral therapy in the past decade, HIV prevalence in the country is still one of the highest in the world, at 21.9%. In response, Botswana is implementing a national strategic framework that includes the protection of human rights for all as a guiding principle.

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.

On this World AIDS Day, let us also reflect on the lives lost to Ebola, on the countries and people affected by the outbreak in West Africa.

The Ebola outbreak reminds us of the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. People were hiding and scared. Stigma and discrimination were widespread. There were no medicines and there was little hope.

But today, thanks to global solidarity, social mobilization and civil society activism, we have been able, together, to transform tragedy into opportunity. We have been able to break the conspiracy of silence, to reduce the price of medicines and break the trajectory of the AIDS epidemic. This has saved millions of lives.

We now have to break the epidemic for good. If we don’t, it could spring back and it will be impossible to end.

We have a short five-year window of opportunity to reach the people who are being left behind, people who have been denied their rights—young women and adolescent girls, men who have sex with men, migrants, prisoners, sex workers, people who inject drugs.

To do this we need to ensure that health systems are strengthened to provide the essential services that are needed and civil society has to be supported so it can continue to play its vital role.

On World AIDS Day 2014, it is time to redouble our efforts, to fast-track our actions and close the gap between people who have access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services and people who are being left behind.

By fast-tracking countries, cities and communities we can reach people most affected by HIV. And with Fast-Track Targets like 90–90–90 we can ensure that, by 2020, 90% of people living with HIV know their status, 90% of people who know their HIV positive status are on treatment and that 90% of people on treatment have suppressed viral loads.

So, let us join together this World AIDS Day to close the gap and end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

GENEVA, 6 November 2014—UNAIDS welcomes Namibia’s Supreme Court decision to uphold the Namibian High Court finding that three women living with HIV were subjected to coercive sterilization in public hospitals without their informed consent.

“This is a great victory for all women in Namibia and the world. This decision reinforces the right to sexual and reproductive health for all women, irrespective of their HIV status,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé.

The Supreme Court’s dismissal of the appeal follows the 30 July 2012 ruling of the High Court of Namibia—in the first formal court case of its kind in Africa—that medical practitioners have a “legal duty to obtain informed consent from a patient” and that the health service provider could not forcibly obtain consent during labour.  

UNAIDS worked closely with civil society and other key partners in the AIDS response in Namibia to ensure that the voices of the women affected were heard. UNAIDS calls on countries to investigate and address all reported cases of forced sterilization as well as other legal and social practices violating the basic rights of all people in health-care systems.

Women and girls, irrespective of their HIV status, should have access to information and be empowered to exercise their sexual and reproductive health rights. UNAIDS will continue to mobilize governments and communities to ensure that everyone has access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services. 

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.

Independent monitoring bodies of two PrEP trials recommend offering antiretroviral therapy to all study participants

GENEVA, 29 October 2014—UNAIDS warmly welcomes strong indications from two ongoing trials of the effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy in preventing new HIV infections among men who have sex with men.

The IPERGAY trial, conducted by the ANRS, the French National Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis, enrolled 400 men who have sex with men in France to establish the efficacy of taking the antiretroviral combination of tenofovir/emtricitabine as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) before and after sex rather than daily. The data safety and monitoring board for the IPERGAY trial reviewed data for the study and found a “very significant” reduction in the risk of HIV infection in the group of participants using tenofovir/emtricitabine as PrEP compared to the placebo group. The monitoring board subsequently recommended that the placebo group be stopped and that all trial participants should be offered tenofovir/emtricitabine as PrEP. 

This announcement follows a recent decision to amend the PROUD study in the United Kingdom. In the PROUD study, the participants were initially placed at random into two groups—one group that used PrEP from the start of the study and another group that was due to receive PrEP after 12 months. However, the independent data monitoring committee found that the effectiveness seen in the trial exceeded the threshold set for trial continuation and recommended that the researchers offer daily PrEP to all study participants immediately.

Neither study is ready to present the full data for review. However, both independent monitoring bodies were clear that the results were so convincing that it would be unethical to allow the participants to continue without receiving PrEP. The final results of the IPERGAY and PROUD trials are expected to be presented in early 2015. Once the results are confirmed, antiretroviral therapy taken as PrEP before and after sex could become an additional HIV prevention option for men who have sex with men.

UNAIDS underlines that no single intervention is completely protective in preventing HIV transmission, which is why UNAIDS advocates strongly for combination HIV prevention. This includes correct and consistent use of condoms, delaying sexual debut, having fewer sexual partners, male circumcision, access to antiretroviral therapy, reducing stigma and discrimination, and the removal of punitive laws. 

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 August 2014—UNAIDS welcomes the decision of Uganda’s Constitutional Court to overturn the law that called for a 14-year jail term for a first conviction, and imprisonment for life for ‘aggravated homosexuality’. Challenged by 10 petitioners including civil society, parliamentarians and academics, the law was annulled by the Court over a lack of quorum when the bill was passed.

“This is a great day for social justice,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “The rule of law has prevailed.”

UNAIDS urges the protection and safety of all people seeking health services. While homosexuality remains illegal in Uganda annulling the law could have positive public health implications. Studies show that when gay men and other men who have sex with men face discrimination including abuse, incarceration and prosecution—they are less likely to seek HIV testing, prevention and treatment services.

“President Yoweri Museveni had personally indicated to me—that he wants Uganda to accelerate its AIDS response to ensure all people have access to life-saving services,” said Mr Sidibé.

UNAIDS urges all governments around the world, to protect the human rights of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender people through repealing criminal laws against adult consensual same sex sexual conduct; implementing laws to protect people from violence and discrimination; promoting campaigns that address homophobia and transphobia; and ensuring access to health services including HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services.

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.

Law confirms no restrictions on entry, stay or residence and guarantees access to treatment for all.

GENEVA, 24 July 2014—UNAIDS welcomes new HIV legislation in the Comoros that protects people living with HIV from all forms of discrimination and reinforces an enabling legal environment for prevention, treatment, care and support programmes.

The new law, which came into force in June 2014, explicitly protects the free movement of people living with HIV and prohibits any restriction on entry, stay or residence based on HIV status.

Among other provisions, the law guarantees that HIV treatment is available to nationals and non-nationals living with HIV. It also ensures that people in prisons and other closed settings have access to HIV prevention and treatment services. Mandatory HIV testing as a condition of employment and termination of employment because of a person’s HIV status are prohibited.

“More countries need to follow the bold and inclusive example of the Comoros, ensuring that no one is denied opportunities because of their HIV status,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Comprehensive HIV prevention and treatment programmes, underpinned by an enabling legal environment, will help make it possible to end the epidemic by 2030,” he added.

With the recent clarification received from the Government of the Comoros, UNAIDS counts 38 countries, territories and areas that still have HIV-related restrictions on entry, stay and residence.